Naruto Sempai
by EvilAngeal
Summary: Hinata, true to the series is shy, timid and incredibly lacking in self confidence, only this time she didn't have Naruto to show her the right way. But what if he suddenly comes into her life as an already qualified ninja? Romance and humour themes!
1. Chapter: Pilot

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, or any characters associated in my story.

_On a similar note who owns Neptune? I'm thinking being the owner of a planet could be for me. If you happen to know, let me know. _

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**Naruto: Naruto-Sempai; Chapter; Pilot**

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Rain. It was one of_ those_ days. The duller-than-silver clouds darkened the day, hailing the cool showers and soaking everyone unfortunate enough to be caught out in it. Hinata was sat at the back row next to the window. One of her usual spots for the academy class. She was currently looking out the window, her head supported by her head as she pondered how the weather reflected her life.

It was dull, full of cold people, and overall a bit miserable.

The class was beginning to fill, the newly arriving people making a show of how wet they got. They quickly formed into their little groups and clusters of friends and proceeded to laugh, joke, complain and comment on the things academy students would. Hinata, being the far-too shy, and utterly lacking in self confidence as she was, had no one to really talk to. Partly because of her unwillingness to reach out to people, partly because of her clans reputation of what people should expect were they to try to reach out to her.

Hinata's life had been a series of failures wrapped in a icy veil of loneliness. Her father had attempted to train her, but after he junior sister had bested her, even on a number of occasions he stopped 'wasting' time with her. Instead leaving her to the care of others. She joined the academy with no self confidence or self esteem, and predictably; failed to make friends and made progress at a worryingly slow pace. She was only lucky she began far ahead of everyone else in her skills, however she was seriously beginning to fall behind these days.

Suddenly the bell rang. Indicating everyone should return to their seats, or else be scolded by Iruka-sensei. By now it was routine, so everyone instinctively moved into place. However, it wasn't Iruka-sensei that walked into the classroom. In fact it wasn't any teacher they had ever had before. Everyone watched the stranger move to the front of the room, with a mixture of surprise, curiosity and a small amount of disbelief. Even the Uchiha Sasuke was watching with an agape mouth, and a look on his face that revealed every ounce of his surprise. The stranger dropped some papers on the desk before wheeling round on his heels and grinning at all the nonplussed faces of his students. He clapped his hands together, snapping them back into reality.

"Good morning class!" Naruto said with his trademark foxy-grin "Are we sitting comfortably?"

There was no answer to his question. Naturally, everyone was still in the state of wondering who this kid was. Probably someone from another class trying to be funny perhaps?

Though he was wearing the chuunin vest, something that prevented them from outright laughing at him. After a further few seconds pause Sakura rose her hand. Naruto looked over and nodded

"Yes?" he said eyes fixed on her. Sakura cleared her throat before speaking

"Excuse me but, are you actually our teacher?" She said, asking the question everyone else was. The whole room leaned forward, awaiting the answer with great interest. Naruto merely continued to smile.

"For today; yes" he said "It seems Iruka-sensei isn't 100% today, so I will be temporarily filling in" he finished. No sooner had he done so when a comment was shouted out

"But you're just a kid!" Naruto looked over towards the commentator.

"So are you. The difference is I know all my ninja training. Now would you like to learn yours, or are you just going to continue to state the obvious?" he said with confidence, diffusing the confidence of the would-be troublemaker. "I mean you could, but it's not the obvious you need to train to see in the ninja world" he finished utterly finalising that conversation as moved around the desk, scanning the papers left there by Iruka.

"Chakra control" he read out aloud, looking up waiting to be corrected, as he thought about the subject. "Chakra control" he repeated wondering exactly what level these guys would be at. After all, he didn't spend long at the academy at all, so it was hard to judge what a normal class would be up to at this point.

"Chakra control…. Chakra control" he continued to repeat. The class looking rightfully confused, even glancing at each other in doubt.

"Chakra control, I hope your getting all this down" Naruto commented "Right! Let's see what you know! The purpose of chakra is?" he said, looking around the room quizzically. Slowly Sakura raised her hand.

"Yep?"

"Chakra is an energy ninja use to perform ninja techniques." She said hesitantly stopping.

"Exactamundo… a word I've never used before and hopefully never will again." He said surprised at himself "One point to…" he said looking at her questioningly.

"Haruno Sakura"

"Okay, What is the purpose of hand seals?" he asked looking around the room. Only Sakura rose her hand "Someone else" Naruto said looking around the room, sharpening his gaze revealing his intent to pick on someone.

"Nope? Okay Sakura"

"Hand seals are used to shape and manipulate chakra in order to allow it to be used for something that would not otherwise be possible" she said

"Text book answer, two to Sakura. Okay Sakura, tell me this; What would the effect be if too much chakra was used in a jutsu"

"The jutsu would not function correctly, if at all. Not to mention it would be far more taxing on the user"

"What is your chakra element?" Naruto pushed, not bothering to tell her she was right. She knew she was, or should do with answers that were literally repeated as written in a textbook. By this point the class was looking in between Sakura and Naruto waiting for one of them to become stumped. At the very least Naruto's credibility was going up.

"Um… I don't know…" Sakura said, her voice quieting down along with her confidence. Naruto nodded, opening the drawers in the desk apparently looking for something. He reappeared with a frown. Suddenly a clone popped up next to him. Without a word or moments hesitation it spend off out of the room. The class remained silent. If nothing else the substitute was interesting.

"Excuse me, but how did you do that without forming a seal?" Sakura piped up again. Naruto sat himself down leisurely in Iruka's seat, looking up at her as he did so.

"I did form a seal" he corrected.

"But, I was watching…" She said trailing off. Hinata frowned, she agreed with her classmate. She too had been watching and listening quite intently, and she was sure he didn't make a hand sign.

"He was just that quick" Sasuke interjected. Naruto grinned at the prodigy with a slow nod "I saw it, but only barely" Sasuke explained, his expression one of surprise, a rarity for the usually very cool Uchiha.

"That's correct. No doubt you guys will be starting to get fast yourselves soon, but later one, when you have done your seals as often as I have, you get so quick the untrained eye cannot see them." Naruto said raising from his seat to stroll amongst the front.

"But you're our age, exactly how much experience do you have?" Sasuke asked rather forcefully, clearly irritated. Naruto looked at Sasuke, his smile fading a little but not completely

"Enough" he replied simply, as he did so, his clone returned a box in hand.

"Okay, let's do some fun stuff. I'm only here for today, so what say we make the most of it, yeah?" he said nodding with a grin to his face. Hinata couldn't help but smile a little too, his smile was infectious. Glancing around the room it seemed that was true, several others she could see also would faint smiles to fun blown smirks all over their faces.

"You know the 5 Chakra elements, yeah?" Naruto asked the class rather loudly. In response he got a murmur of an agreement

"Great, okay, you; Mr loud mouth from earlier, name one" he asked

"Earth" came back an answer

"Good, you, another" he said looking at Shino

"Water"

"Yep, another" he continued referring to another

"Lightning"

"Great, two more, what are they, Sakura?"

"Fire and Wind" she replied, with a hint of joy to giving her response.

"Fantastic! You know that atleast. In a moment I'm going to pass out paper that I will show you how to use to discover your natural element of your chakra" he said as his clone was sorting out said paper behind him

"While we wait for that, who wants to take a guess at my element?" he offered. He wouldn't like, he liked people guessing things about himself, it was so much more fun than just telling it them. Let's face it everyone does. A few elements were called out aloud

"What about…. You" he said looking at Hinata, who nearly visibly jumped at being picked on.

"A-Ano…..F-Fire?" she squeaked

"Fire? I see, think I'm hot do you? Can't blame you" he said, earning several groans from the class, and causing Hinata to rapidly begin to redden "Nah I'm just kidding, I won't hold it against you" he said with a playful wink. With a 'poof' the clone was gone, Naruto turned and picked up the stacks of paper, and handed them out one per person.

"Alright; Here's how these work" he said "Just hold it like so" he said, holding one up, showing them clearly "And focus your chakra in your hand. The paper is very reactive to chakra, If it splits in half, like this" he said as his own just was sudden sliced into two pieces "You are one refreshing dude like me, and have wind element chakra. If it becomes wet, you're water, if it burns up, you've got fire, turns to dust you've got earth and finally if it wrinkles up like the Hokage's face you're lightning. Well okay, your papers won't wrinkle up THAT much but… whatever" he said rather cheekily, smiling to himself over his rather witty comment, or so he thought.

Hinata looked down at her own paper. Water, Earth, Fire, Wind or Lightning. She hadn't really thought about it before, but she found herself oddly excited to find out what she was. Perhaps it was just the idea of learning a little something about herself. She held the paper, and closed her eyes, then focused on gathering her chakra.

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The day had flown by. Before she even knew what was what it was time to go home. Hinata found herself not only disappointed but slightly saddened, though for massively unusual reasons than the normal ones. The first was that she wanted it to last so much longer. She felt that she made some real actual progress today. She felt sad that she knew this was a one day deal. She respected and liked Iruka-sensei very much, but Naruto…. Had a gift. Or at least a way with her, she found him very easily to listen to, and learn from. She didn't know if it was she was just relating better to him, given his age, or than it was his sheer energy that radiated from him at all times. Whatever it was, it helped her. She was deliberately slow in packing things away so she could speak with him, at the moment most of the class were saying there fair wells.

Naruto was really a hit, despite the seeming rock start. She even noted Sasuke seemingly enjoying himself today, something which was so odd it bordered on the unnatural. As she was lost in her thoughts the last of the class exited to the room leaving just the two of them. Naruto, seeing very clearly she was procrastinating her leave hopped on the desk in front of hers.

"Anything you want to ask, or talk about?" he said, alerting her of their privacy. After confirming it, she looked up at Naruto with uncertainty, a nasty habit of hers.

"W-Well I, ano…" she paused. Naruto was rather sympathetic to her. He didn't know much of the Hyuuga clan, however he knew lack of self confidence when he saw it. So he sat there waiting patiently for her to say her part

"I-I just w-wa-was wondering… D-Do you ano… A-Are you… available?" she asked. Naruto processed what she said, his eyes betraying his level of shock. Hinata, at the same time realised how that sounded

"Aahhh!" she squeaked "Nonononono, I mean, do you do privately! I mean, do you do one on ones?" she continued very panicked and very quickly, the shade of her cheeks revealing her complete embarrassment "For training!….a-assuming you won't b-be back to teach…" she said looking anywhere at all but at Naruto, who was just focusing on trying dearly not to laugh, however funny it might be he was worried her fragile confidence would shatter.

After regaining control of his throat he spoke

"Well, not on record" he said studying her reaction "Iruka-san is your teacher and I'm quite sure he would like you to approach him if you feel you require additional help or attention in any area…" he explained, taking a note of her disappointment.

"However. If you feel you require extra-hours mentoring" he said, giving Hinata enough how to get her to look at him "You can request aid from either Iruka or the Hokage directly" he said. Seeing Hinata's reaction to this he considered. Clearly she wanted to avoid having to ask Iruka for someone else's help, he could understand that. And it might be a hassle for her being a Hyuuga to go to the Hokage. He smiled

"Tell you what, leave it with me" he said with a reassuring grin "I'll pop in tomorrow to fill you in on what I can do for you. Alright?" he said, earning a small smile, and a short nod from the embarrassed Hyuuga. With her objective complete, she hurridly made to leave the room, as she got to the door Naruto spoke up again.

"By the way Miss Hyuuga." He said standing and looking at her with an expression of mild seriousness "While we spoke at the start of class about you thinking my being 'hot' perhaps discussing my 'availability' might be slightly premature" he said with a wink and a giant grin.

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Auther Notes: Pilot Episode, you know how this works, R&R or it's a flight that isn't taking off.

Two questions I will answer now;

Is this a 'powerful' Naruto story?

No, it isn't. He is more powerful than the rookie 9(or 8 in this case), obviously. But he's not stronger than for example Kakashi. So yes he is stronger than normal, but not so much so that there's no point. As personally I feel too many stories have an indestructible Naruto. But that's me and my tastes, not criticising those of you who have a powerful-naruto story, but that's not how I roll.

What is the Naruto to Hinata Relationship here?

Naruto will effectively Hinata's Sempai, I wouldn't say Sensei, because he'll not be clearly above her as a sensei would be. Naturally Hinata does not currently love Naruto, this will be the first time she's met him, so how could she? That will be the room for story and character development here. But yes, this will ultimately be a Naruto Hinata pairing. I appreciate some of you folks aren't into pairing, and that's fine, the pairing won't be the only thing going on here of course. So if you like how it reads so far, don't fret, it won't turn into a hardcore fluff-fest.


	2. Chapter 1: The Path of a Ninja

Disclaimer: During the less-than 24 hours since my last update, I have obtained ownership of Naruto and all characters within it… Course I haven't you nilly. Last disclaimer.

Author Notes: 26 reviews in _under_ 24 hours when I first checked. I can see this is rather popular, so it will be continuing.

In story questions such as Naruto background etc will be answered in time.

The Naruto leading his own team is a coin which is still up in the air. For my idea Naruto doesn't have to lead his own time, however I am thinking it could be more fun if he does(?). So my question to you; my sexy sexy audience is thus;

**Do you want Naruto to head a team?**

If yes, per person you may nominate one person to be under his team.

Important note; If Naruto does have a team he will be a jounin, if you tell me you'd prefer not, he will be more of an friend to the Rookie 9, and a side mentor over a sensei and will be a chuunin.

Send your votes via reviews and private messages if you would like a say. Double points if you give reasoning as to why you want what you say.

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**Naruto Sempai: Chapter 1 – The Path of a Ninja**

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When Hinata woke up that morning she found herself energetic and very excited. It could have been the complete change in the weather, from rains and cool northern winds yesterday to a cloudless summer sky today. Or perhaps it was that she was looking forward to the idea of being mentored by the one person in several years that made her feel like she was changing, she was growing as both a shinobi and as a person.

After finishing her morning rituals she slipped out after a rather hastily eaten breakfast, wanting to avoid her father. It wasn't that he berated her, not anymore. It was worse than that. It was as though he had given up on her entirely. When he spoke somewhat cruel things to her, it could at least be seen to attempt to motivate her further. However she knew it was bad when he didn't even do that anymore. These days he was both cold and distant to her. A hurtful combination given that he was her father, a person she would always love, and the person she wanted to improve for the most.

As she strolled through Konoha this morning she could just tell today was going to be a good day. The dampness caused by yesterdays rains were already nearly gone, just leaving the plants watered, causing their smell to be carried well across the area. The heat was warm, yet not hot and the breeze was ever so slightly cooling and best of all, there wasn't a cloud in sight.

"Oi! Hyuuga-San!" came a brilliantly familiar voice. Hinata smiled, recognising it, and turn to see Naruto land before her.

"N-Naruto-Sensei" she greeted her little smile in place. Naruto grinned back.

"Just Naruto, or Naruto-sempai if you must" he said, still avoiding the 'sensei' title. "But, great news!" he said his smile growing ever wider "Having spoken with the Hokage and the guys at the academy, they've given me permission to be a personal tutor for you." He said making sure to keep eye contact, wanting to see her smile both on her face, and in her eyes "After hours at the academy, on weekends, or even if you feel you need a little space from your classmates. So long as I'm available I'm all yours" he said, but seizing the opportunity to tease her stepped back "But I just hope we can keep this strictly professional" he said with a sly smile.

Hinata, slightly less amused, flushed.

"N-Naruto-sempai!" she said, looking away in embarrassment. He seemed to be unwilling to let her simple mistake yesterday go. She hadn't meant it the way it came out! It was just her nerves. But alas, the damage was done now, and she was paying for it.

"I'm just kidding" he said holding up his hands as though in defence "But, what do you think? Naruto do good, or what?" he finished with a grin, hands on his waist. Hinata nodded

"Y-Yes, thank you Naruto-sempai. I only hope I won't disappoint you" she said with a slight bow. Naruto frowned at this.

"Hmm, disappoint me?" he questioned stroking his chin thoughtfully. Hinata looked up, worried. "You aren't in the habit of turning up some hours late, are you?" he asked completely seriously. Hinata blinked

"Ano… no?" she replied, at the strange question.

"Hmm, I see" Naruto said still looking thoughtful "You aren't going to ditch times we agree on because it was too 'troublesome', are you?" he asked, again with complete seriousness. Hinata was somewhat confused by where this was going.

"No" she repeated more sure of herself this time. Naruto grinned at her again, after studying it for a moment she allowed herself to relax.

"Hinata-chan, so long as you turn up, on time… ish, and you give it all you have, you could never disappoint me" he said taking a hold of her shoulder with an arm. "You seem like the type who will do that, am I right?" he nodded with an encouraging smile. Hinata looked at him in his wonderfully blue eyes and nodded

"Fantastic!" he said, letting go of her "Now, you have a class to attend, and I have a mission to get to, I'll pop in to see you at the end of the day. So you be good, you naughty thing you" He chuckled playfully before hopping off.

Hinata couldn't help but flush a little. She wouldn't admit it, but she liked how he joked with her, though it was embarrassing, she found it was definitely lessening her reluctance to say anything to him. She didn't fully understand how that worked, but it just… did.

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The day passed much as many before it had. Hinata found her energy topped off though, likely from a certain individual who seemed to have boundless energy. Naruto was the subject of many a conversation throughout the whole day. Iruka revealed that Naruto attended the academy a year before they did, and passed in a single year. Of course, this only seemed to boost his popularity among the students, which Hinata saw made Iruka both a little deflated but happy. She supposed the two had their own bond, as Iruka was quick to point out he was Naruto's favourite teacher, also using it as a form of blackmail in that if they did as Iruka said, they would be on the road to catching Naruto up; which was frighteningly effective, especially when it came to Sasuke, oddly enough.

Hinata like the others was working that extra hard today, though she felt she had her own reasons, more personal than the others. She wanted to have something to say for herself, knowing that this evening Naruto would no doubt ask about today.

When the day did finally draw to a close Hianta was a little upset with herself. She really gave it her all, but didn't feel as though she made any progress at all. Suddenly she wasn't quite as enthused about talking with Naruto, at least not when he asked about today.

As she gathered her things she couldn't help but feel that pang of disappointment. 'Another day gone, no more progress made' was all she couldn't help but feel.

"Heya" Naruto said from behind her shocking her into a small gasp. She span around, taking a step back crashing into her desk. Naruto chuckled as she picked herself up

"Easy now" he grinned "Only me. So how do you think you did today?" he asked. Hinata brushed herself off, but paused when he asked that. She considered just lying, only for a moment, but passing off the idea. Naruto was already going to lengths for her, she dare not disgrace him by lying to him.

"Ano… w-well…" she began. She glanced up at Naruto, expecting to see a look of concern or disappointment, but no such look could be seen. He was just smiling at her, patiently waiting for her to tell him. "I-I'm not sure I m-made m-much progress" she confessed, holding her arm with her hand, and looking down. There was a pause. Slowly she looked up, only to find Naruto looking at the ground, scanning it, as though searching for something. This continued for a moment before Hinata finally had to ask

"A-Ano, Naruto-sempai?" she said, catching his attention.

"Yes? sorry, I just don't see it" he said with a grin. He had lost her

"S-See what?" she asked

"Whatever you were looking at down there!" Naruto said, gesturing towards the ground. Hinata just looked, completely unsure where he was going with this. Naruto continued to look at her, before elaborating.

"Okay, first things first. Confidence!" he said with emphasis "I don't mean to be rude, not that you would say anything even if I was, am I right?" he poked "But you don't have any" Hinata frowned, but could not bring herself to disagree. Instead she just looked down. Naruto cupped a finger and picked her face back up to his by lifting her chin.

"There's nothing wrong with being shy Hinata, but when your confidence is affecting everything else, it's time for a change, yeah?" he said, smiling. Hinata smiled back at little, unable to follow her instincts and look down.

"Lesson one; Eye contact!" he said, releasing her chin. "All I want you to do, it maintain eye contact with someone when you're speaking to them. I guarantee them this will help raise your confidence." He said "So let's practice now, do you have time?" he asked, checking his watch momentarily. Hinata nodded

"S-sure." Naruto grinned.

"Perfect, well, let's get something to eat while we practise" he said rasing a finger "When I was at the academy Iruka-sensei would occasionally treat me to a ramen, sound good?" he asked with a grin she had only one answer for

"That sounds g-great" she said focusing on maintaining eye contact.

Naruto took her to a small ramen shop, one she had not been to before. It seemed nice enough, the owners seemed very friendly with Naruto, leading her to believe perhaps this was one of his favourites. After ordering Naruto turned back to her.

"So, the first thing I would like to ask is; Why?" he asked, quite simply. Hinata; whilst making sure to maintain eye contact with him frowned a little.

"Excuse me but, why what?" she asked after a moments silence.

"Why are you here. Becoming a ninja, despite how hard it is, and the dangers of it all" He asked, clearly pressing into personal territory. Hinata was hesitant, and nealy lost eye contact, however after gathering her thoughts she responded.

"Because I need to be." She said as simply as he asked.

"For your clan?" Naruto suggested. Hinata blinked.

"W-Well, yes and no. It's true the Hyuuga have a long standing tradition of being exceptional warriors. The main branch more than anyone is supposed to excel in strength, s-so there _is_ that. But…" Hinata struggled to maintain eye contact. It was only now she was realising how blue Naruto's eyes were, it was like looking into a perfect sapphire lake in a mid summers afternoon.

"I see" Naruto said after her pause continued into a silence "So while there is the expectations, you have your own of yourself" he said assumingly. Hinata nodded. There was slightly more to it than that, but that was a rough silhouette of the picture.

"What about you?" she dared to venture. Naruto grinned at her, apparently pleased by this.

"Well, since you ask; I started to become a hero and to become respected. But it didn't take me too long to work out it doesn't exactly work like that. My goal is to become the greatest Hokage. And to protect everyone in the village" he said with a smile unlike any other Hinata had seen so far. It was both passionate, and thoughtful, just like the tone he used to tell her. Normally the statement 'become the greatest hokage' would be the words of some loud mouth fool. But when he said it, the way he said it, Hinata instantly believed that he really could be. Just as all this hit her, the food was placed in front of her. Naruto broke the eye contact to focus on his meal.

"Itadakimasu!" he called cheerfully as he began to dig into his food. Hinata followed suit, thinking about what he just told her. She could have guessed from the little she knew of Naruto that he was a big thinker, and a big dreamer. But his goal was big, bigger than she would have guessed. She considered the possibilities of it. Clearly Naruto was a gifted shinobi, so there was a chance. But then all of the Hokage's strength and wisdom were legendary. With the third still around they still are. To become the greatest of them all? Hinata looked at the boy to her side, and allowed herself to imagine.

"So, anyway" Naruto said, having swallowing a particularly large mouthful, and effectively bringing Hinata back to earth. "I want you to keep eye contact with everyone you speak with for 3 weeks. Even if it's hard, or they aren't keeping eye contact with you, make sure you look into their eyes. The reason I say 3 weeks, because that is the time it takes to train your brain to learn a habit. Once you keep doing something for that long, your brain will do it automatically, and you shouldn't have to focus on doing it." He said simply. Hinata nodded, she didn't really know either way, but she had faith he knew what he was talking about.

"So, tell me; already do you feel it has made a difference?" he said looking at her. She looked back at it, and locked eyes. She smiled faintly, causing him to return one.

"Yes, I think it has" she said, admitting to herself that she was able to be more open with him than she might otherwise allow herself to be.

"Brilliant" Naruto said enthusiastically nodding "Confidence is a big one. Once you've nailed that, I think you'll find it will really open all sorts of doors for you. I mean, you're fearless at asking a guy out, but not so much at everything else." He grinned. Hinata fought to maintain eye contact, but the faint pink tint crept into her cheeks

"I told you, I didn't mean it like that!" she pleaded, to which Naruto just laughed.

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Throughout the rest of the meal there was a much more general topic of conversation, and of course all whilst maintaining eye contact. Something Hinata actually found very difficult to do, especially given how remarkably blue Naruto's eyes seemed the entire evening. She asked him about a few academy related things she didn't understand or wanted a better idea of, Naruto happily obliged. Hinata also learnt Naruto could put away a ridiculous seven bowls of ramen, which after comparing bowl sizes to Naruto himself she was certain was several times the size of his entire digestive system.

He walked her back to the Hyuuga grounds before departing his own way. Hinata found herself smiling the rest of the night. This time, she knew full well it wasn't the weather which was causing it, but rather a certain blonde.

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Author Note: That's all folks! I don't think think this chapter is as funny as the first, but maybe it will give you a little insight to Naruto in this fanfic, something I gather a few of you were interested in.

Reminder vote if you want, or don't want Naruto to have a genin team. Full details remain at the top of this chapter.


	3. Chapter 2: Hinata versus Sasuke?

Disclaimer: I do not own 200 pounds of candy, though I'd sure like to! Oh, nor do I own Naruto

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**Author Notes**: Mixed reactions, I counted about 30 votes aside (given that adding reasons gives your votes a weight of 2 point, not 1) with Pro-Team Naruto ahead by one single vote.

Which is weird because all other times I've ever asked a question I get a landslide majority. That said, none of my other fics have been remotely close as popular as this one, so I assume my target audience here is vast, huh people?

Right then my decision is (here is where you might notice a flux of similar fics gone the other way) to Not have Naruto as a team leader.

Your reasons on either side were good and well rounded, however given the closeness of the vote I am putting it down to one thing; The Fic's name. Naruto Sempai, not Naruto Sensei.

I hope those who voted for are not too disappointed, by this choice. In either case I shall proceed with the story in the same manner which I have been

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Response to aegisZero who wrote: "_I vote for Naruto to remain as a chuunin, being an assistant teacher._

_Also on a side note for filling Naruto's spot on team 7, assuming same teams, can you use Sai? just a preference over OC_"

I myself typically find OC characters rather lame. On the rare occasion, some are written very well, but generally, lets face it, who cares about OC characters? We're all here to read about our favourites, am I right or what?

However given Sai's very character it is impossible to bring him into the story at the present time I believe. Which leaves me with a difficult choice; as there is only 8 canon characters to use. Unfortunately I think my answer will simply be dropping the 2 spare. Not from being a ninja, but certainly from the front of the story as there will almost have to be an OC in their group. If anyone has another idea to combat this, then I'm all hears but unfortunately that is my current thought line.

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**Naruto Sempai: Chapter 2 – Hinata versus Sasuke?**

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Over the course of the next few days, Hinata would be sure to look everyone she spoke to dead in the eyes. Not staring exactly, but somewhat less than relaxed, which was often a fright to her conversation partner; having two pale pupil-less eyes fixated on your own. At first it was very difficult; she felt self conscious, and somewhat naked in a sense. Though as the days shifted on, and she practised eye contact more, she found it progressively easier, and was becoming less tense when speaking to people. Her usual stutter was receding from her speech remarkably in the time given. In fact over all she felt a little better about herself. She remained shy, timid and lacking in the self confidence area; however her ability to hold actual conversations were growing rapidly.

Naruto visited her only once since, just to check up on how she was doing. He took her again to the ramen bar, thus solidifying her belief it was indeed one of his favourites. She found she really enjoyed him even just for his company, his personality was so warm and uplifting you would have to trying to NOT get along with him. He made sure she was the one talking mostly, mainly asking questions about her time in the academy the focus shifting between the lessons themselves to her classmates. Hinata enjoyed Naruto's company, his personality was so warm and uplifting, it was quite refreshing, and so different from anyone she knew. He was quite outspoken with a cool tempered confidence underlining how he spoke. He was quick to make a joke whenever the opportunity arose, seemingly to both get a laugh from his conversation partner, and to keep the conversation quite light. Next to him she couldn't help but feel even more withdrawn than she knew she was, but in a good way, if such a feeling was possible.

She decided to herself that there was indeed much to learn from Naruto, what he taught her, as well as how he acted and how he spoke.

Today was Friday, the last day in the week for the academy and with it a small test accompanying it. It would be one of two 'practice-test' days before the final exam. Naturally Hinata was quite nervous of it. When they first started at the academy she was by comparison to her classmates very talented, however, since then it seemed they had all surpassed her. On days like today she actually wished she was sick, or something of the sort.

She dawdled to the academy, practically dragging her feet as though willing them to anchor her to the spot. But all too soon she found herself sitting in her seat, waiting for her self confidence to take another body blow.

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Uchiha Sasuke sat in the shade, watching the remaining of his group finish their kunai and shuriken throwing test. As per usual he had aced his own, as well as getting extra points for aerodynamic control and agility over his weapons after they had been thrown. This meant all of nothing to him. Curving the path of his weapons made it harder to guard against, and he had been doing it as easily for a small number of years already. Even supposing that wasn't true, these 'fake-exams' were the last thing on the boys mind. He was thinking of a certain blonde haired ninja.

He couldn't shake the thoughts from his mind. This guy, the same age as them or so he looked was not only a fully fledged ninja, but was even of the intermediate '_chuunin'_ level?

How had he done it? He hadn't known anyone to progress that fast save for his quarry. A fact he found difficult to deal with on an emotional level. He had tried to seek him out, but had only found him once, and he was spending time with Hyuuga Hinata. He looked over at her. She was the shy daughter of the head of the clan. Beyond that he realised he knew nothing about her really, only that she was so quite he sometimes wondered if she had some sort of condition which prevented her from speaking too much.

Realising they were alone, most of the class still performing, or waiting to perform the test he decided to speak to her out of sheer curiosity.

"How did you do in the test?" he asked flatly, knowing full well how she had done. Hinata blinked, and looked toward him.

'_That's strange… he's the only person who speaks less than I do_' she thought. Still it would be rude not to reply, so she responded, whilst looking at his eyes.

"I-I think I did alright, not exactly good, but I usually p-pass after similar performances" she replied, considering other recent such tests. Sasuke shifted, realising he would have to think of something else to say to keep the conversation alive

"You seem to be doing as well as you did today for awhile now" he commented, still not looking at her, but rather the group before them still being tested.

"Y-Yes. Unfortunately I'm not making so much progress…" she trailed off, finding it difficult to talk about herself in such her way to the top of the class. Sasuke realised he had inadvertently hit a nerve, and turned to mutter some sort of an apology, but stopped dead when he saw her looking right at him her eyes staring into his own. He blinked. Finding it hard to look away he immediately turned back to break the eye contact.

"Ugh…" he said re-gathering himself "Sorry" he murmured quietly. Hinata found his reaction quite peculiar, was he so unused to people looking him in the eye? The truth of which being not as such, in fact Hinata was quite uncomfortable talking to him, so when forcing herself to look into his eyes, she came across as staring rather intensely. A heat Sasuke was still feeling as he shifted where he sat uncomfortably. Not knowing how to respond to his random apology Hinata opted to say nothing. Something which added to Sasuke's steadily rising level of complete lack of comfort.

"So, er…" He began unable to take the silent staring "…what is your element of your chakra?" he asked, sending her a side glance, before snapping his eye back frontward after seeing her still staring at him

"Ano… my chakra is-"

"Can you stop looking at me like that!" he suddenly pleaded, "Please" he added for good measure. Hinata blinked, and leaned back

"Um… sure, s-sorry" she said, deciding now would indeed be a good time to look at the floor. Sasuke sighed a breath of relief as he felt the weight of her gaze break. He had heard the eyes of the Hyuuga were powerful at unnerving a person but that was ridiculous, he mentally groaned.

"Don't worry about it" he said, trying to regain his indifferent voice. Hinata at the same time had clicked onto why he was uncomfortable, and couldn't help but let loose a small giggle. Sasuke frowned, and dared to glance over, watching her trying to hold her laugh in. He folded his arms tightly across his chest and had a face that looked like a child who had their ice-cream stolen, he clearly wasn't as amused.

"S-Sorry" she said trying to suppress her amusement. Sasuke just looked at her as she smiled looking away deliberately now. At that moment he just knew she was going to be on his genin team. He groaned inwardly.

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Hinata sat on the swings outside the academy. It was time to go home but she didn't have the energy, either physically or mentally. Instead she sat watching the final students make their way home, or be picked up. She silently moved back and forth thinking about the events of today, and what it would mean for things to come. She had failed. On each individual test even. Things were not looking good. She wondered of her fathers reaction if she failed. She considered her life if she could not be a shinobi? No, that was unheard of for one of the Hyuuga to fail much less the Firstborn and heir the clan.

"Hey, what're you doing?" A familiar voice suddenly came from in front of her. She snapped back into reality, finding Naruto hanging from upside down in front of her.

"Ahh!" she cried, falling off the back of the swing. Naruto just looked at her with a twisted smirk, before bursting out into a laugh. Hinata frowned a little, Naruto sealed his lips into another twisted smile. Though it lasted only seconds before he broke out into a laugh again.

"Oh come on, it is a bit funny" he reasoned, hopping down in front of her, and offering her a hand up. Hinata accepted but didn't smile, her thoughts were already back to her results. She looked down and stayed silent. Naruto studied her for a moment before resting a hand on her shoulder. This got her attention as she looked at him properly

"Hey, come on now, whatever it is, I'm sure it's not that bad" he said reassuringly. Hinata sighed

"I-I failed" she murmured. Naruto smiled a little

"We all fail sometimes Hinata, which ones?"

"All of them" she replied dejectedly. Naruto went wide eyed for a moment, but regained his expression easily.

"Well... that is less good, but not earth shattering. Come on, let's sort you out" he said turning to her side, and using the hand on her shoulder to ease her forward with him via her back. They continued to walk until they came to a field with three wooden stumps at the base of it. Hinata by which time had fallen again into deep thoughts of what would happen when she failed.

"Hinata-san" Naruto said, withdrawing his hands to his sides, he walked forward and leant on the middle stump. "Let me share with you my biggest secret."

This caught her attention, and Naruto saw it in an instant.

"No doubt you've wondered to yourself how I got to where I am, right?" he said nodding, already giving her the answer. Predictably she nodded back.

"Well the answer to my success. No I take that back" he said looking at the floor as though he'd thought of something before looking back to her "The secret to being a ninja is one thing…" he said, trailing off, gesturing for her to come closer. She obeyed and leant in enough for Naruto to whisper it to her.

"Guts" he said softly.

Hinata pulled back, her expression revealing her confusion.

"To have the will to never give up. To get back up no matter what. That is what it really means to be a ninja" He explained "By learning ninjutsu, and other such ninja arts, we can do amazing things. But; by believing in ourselves and always taking that step forward, we can do _great_ things Hinata." He said with a smile. "That is the only thing that separates me from anyone else. I _know_ that if I try hard enough, and believe in myself, I really can do just about whatever I set my mind to."

"Do you trust me?" he asked, rather suddenly. Hinata froze for a moment, but slowly, she nodded.

"I-I trust you, N-Naruto-sempai" she stammered with a small smile of her own. Slowly a smile spread across his face. His smile lit his face, giving it indescribable warmth.

"So if I asked you, theoretically what would you like to accomplish before becoming a genin?" he asked, studying her carefully. Hinata paused before answering, it was a rather unexpected question, as at the moment she was just concerned with becoming a genin. Still, there was one thing…

"I…" she began, looking at Naruto looking back at her with nothing but patience and interest, her confidence grew enough for her to continue.

"I… I wanted to have beaten Sasuke-kun at something" she said, a sense of shame of revealing such envy coming over her. Naruto on the other hand just chuckled. She looked at him worried, was her wish so off it was just funny?

"Hinata-san, you are more alike to me than I had realised!" he laughed, suddenly very clearly pleased by her answer. She grinned sheepishly back.

"Right then, as your personal mentor, it will be my job- no! My duty! To see this A-rank mission fulfilled!" Hinata could only blink at him. Was he serious?

"So, the only question remains my not-so-innocent little Hyuuga friend, in which area do you want to beat him?" Naruto continued, apparently quite serious. Hinata had to resist the urge to laugh out of sheer disbelief. Naruto saw this, and titled his head in question to it

"Ano… Naruto-sempai… forgive me but… are you s-serious?" She asked, as she instinctively brought up her fingers, as they poked and push one another. Naruto studied her for a moment before holding her hands, and pushing them down.

"I am absolutely serious Hinata. You are telling me you want to beat Uchiha Sasuke in one area in your graduation tests. I am asking which test" he stated, coolly. Hinata just looked at him, and then broke out into laughter.

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It had taken awhile for Naruto to get her to take him seriously, or so he felt. She was certainly an interesting girl, he would definitely have to credit her for that. The shy, timid and ever so polite Hyuuga heir had been laughing at him. Eventually she had laughed it out, allowing him to explain it further. He would personally oversee her training until she was of a passing grade, after them, he would focus much of her time and energy into the one area she chose in order to be certain she would defeat the Uchiha genius in said area.

Hinata had opted for Taijutsu, given that it was her own personal strength, and would be the lead of her powers in years to come. While she considered trying for kunai and shuriken practice, it wasn't as a practical choice on her part in the long run.

Naruto had given her a several appointments in the week during which she would be training with him personally. He advised her to spend most other time in other area's as with him 90% of their time would be focusing on taijutsu training. As promised he would give her help in other areas, and bring her up to a firm passing level, but he made it clear much of his time with her he wanted to put into Taijutsu.

Hinata was going over this in her mind as she walked home. She was still inwardly laughing at the very idea of beating the Uchiha Sasuke at anything. She wasn't among his group of avid supporters, however she knew he was incredibly gifted. She was… not gifted at all. However her mind kept playing over Naruto words. For that reason alone she couldn't dismiss the possibility. After all, Naruto would have to be even more than gifted to get to where he was today. If he was telling her, and more importantly he promised her. Even so, it was a very difficult concept for her to take in.

As she moved throughout the Hyuuga grounds she noticed a sparr going on in one of the open grounds. She stood to watch as their speedy strikes struck with inhuman levels of accuracy. She noticed how perfect their balances were, their posture, and how fluent their movements were. She found her mind drifting to how good Naruto was. All she really knew of him was that he was the same age as her; 12, and was of the chuunin level. The information combined was certainly impressing, but also unspecific. Was he a taijutsu specialist, or perhaps Ninjutsu? For some reason he didn't strike her as a predominant genjutsu user, so she dismissed it. It was then that it occurred to her, in the first class he summoned a shadow clone! Even more remarkable was that he performed the seal so fast, only Sasuke had seen it. She wondered if that meant he was a ninjutsu specialist, as taijutsu doesn't require the hand seals.

She could has stayed there wondering about it for a great deal of time were it not time to eat shortly. As she prepared for another meal avoiding her fathers gaze she smiled to herself upon a single moment of a thought.

How good would it be, to be able to tell her father she came top in the class in taijutsu, above and beyond the Uchiha genius himself.

She allowed herself a cheeky grin at the idea.

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Author Notes: Apparently there is some confusion as to the characters ages so allow me to clarify.

Naruto is 12

All of the Rookie nine are 12

Any further questions you would like to know if I feel I am able to without it being spoilers, I will answer your questions in the next update provided I saw it of course!

As a final side note looking back on this I feel as though it was a little rushed. If you get the same feeling then I apologise however the original chapter was nearly plus a third to a half as big, adding in details I felt having read it back were just irrelevant. So it has been shortened to maintain purpose and not to drag the story unnecessarily.

Assuming you are like me, details are fun, but not when you get tempted to skip them to get to the good stuff, and I right?

I tidied it up as best as I could however maybe it's because I wrote it but I can see it. Anyway, I'm rambling now, so I'm going away to write another day! Later peeps!


	4. Chapter 3: The Training Begins!

**Naruto Sempai: Chapter 3 – The Training Begins!**

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Training, the single word that consumed and corrupted Hinata's every thought. This evening would be the first night Naruto would be training her one on one. As expected the evening held for her both great anticipation and great worry. Both for multitudes of reasons of various levels of likelihood, from very probably, to the not even remotely imaginable. As do most minds under similar circumstances. Hinata checked the clock again. 7 minutes had passed. She wasn't entirely sure if that made her feel better or worse.

"Iruka-sensei" someone called out.

"Yes? What is it?" he said turning to said student

"I'm having trouble with problem F"

Hinata looked back to her own questions. They were mostly all correct or so she felt sure. Theory wasn't her problem, it was the practical. Her brain knew what the do, but her body wouldn't follow, either out of hesitation, nerves or just lack of force. She sighed to herself, and looked out the window. She wondered what Naruto was doing now. Actually she wondered allot about him. His family, his history, his techniques, his strengths, weaknesses, habits, hobbies, hates… Perhaps in time he would share it with her, though she couldn't help but notice the fact he had been seemingly deliberately vague on the rare and brief occasions he ever spoke of himself. Who wouldn't but wonder why?

"Sensei" Sasuke called out, grasping most peoples attention. Surely Sasuke didn't need help! Even Iruka was quite taken aback

"What is it, Sasuke?" he asked, almost suspiciously.

"Who exactly is Uzumaki Naruto?" he asked bluntly. Now Hinata was paying attention, as also most of the class it seemed. Iruka looked around slowly before sighing. He might've known to expect a few questions about the young ninja but he had been hoping they might draw their own conclusions. He rather disliked speaking of former students to others on anything less than a need-to-know basis.

"Naruto is…" Iruka began seemingly trying to find the words that gave both true and vagueness. Deciding it wasn't his place to reveal another persons life story, especially a student of his unless he was certain Naruto wouldn't mind, something he couldn't be sure of. "A visionary" he finished. Sasuke frowned, obviously disappointed with the response.

"What kinda jutsu does he use" a girl asked from one of the front rows. Iruka though taken aback by the directness of the question brushed it off with a smile

"Maybe you should ask him yourself when next you see him" was all he gave back in response.

"Will you at least tell us his speciality?" Sasuke shot a slight hint of irritation in his voice.

"Nah, tell you what, you can tell me yours" Naruto said from the doorway. Iruka, as well as the rest of the class turned to him, with looks of question. "Finished early, figured you'd need my help over here" he said happily, as he plopped himself on Iruka's desk, who looked at him, clearly unimpressed.

"Naruto, you've taught for a day, I've been teaching for a number of years" Iruka pointed out, folding his arms. Naruto looked at him in a manner which clearly spoke 'and your point?'

"And yet, you feel insecure enough to point that out" he grinned. Iruka's expression dropped slightly

"You don't know what you're talking about-" he began, but was cut off

"YOU don't know I'm talking about, that's different to MY not knowing" he said cheekily, earning a few smirks from the class.

"Naruto…" Iruka said threateningly. Naruto just smiled

"You know I'm kidding" he said with a shrug. Hinata couldn't help but smile at their interaction. It was so personal, it was more like watching two friends, or perhaps siblings than the relationship between a teacher and a former student. She happened to glance at Sasuke, to notice him looking at Naruto quite carefully seemingly capturing every detail. At the same time Naruto seemed to notice too, and waved at the Uchiha who looked away as though it was nothing.

"Anything you want to say?" Naruto asked lazily. Sasuke with elbows on the desk, fingers slotted between each other casually looked back

"Not really, I just find it strange that's all" he commented passively. Naruto opened his eyes to a normal none-lazy size, looking at the Uchiha with one of interest, He knew full well what the Uchiha meant by that, but wasn't about to call him out directly on it. Instead he was thinking of a way to spend more of his spare time in the classroom, having decided it to the more interesting than elsewhere. He'd get away with it today because it's a one off, and the kids liked him on the day he taught them. But that wouldn't work twice. So he decided to use what Sasuke said for his own advantage,

"See what I mean?" he said suddenly looking at Iruka "You need my help, lots of troublesome kids here that require a second hand and such" he smirked. Sasuke scowled. Iruka shook his head disapprovingly.

"Well, I'm just saying you could sometimes do with a hand, someone who knows the kids" Naruto went on, but before he could continue Sasuke spoke up.

"I bet you don't even remember my name" he said, in an attempt to call Naruto out.

"It's Sasuko" Naruto replied lazily

"It's Sasuke!" Sasuke corrected rather annoyed at the seemingly obvious mistake

"No, it's Sasuko" was all Naruto replied with no real interest

"I think I know my own name!" Sasuke shot back, clearly getting irked by this point.

"You THINK you know your own name? How stupid are you?" Naruto laughed, a few of the classmates joined in. Sasuke turned to look out of the window, at the same time Iruka stepped in to cut it out.

Hinata was among those to attempt to stifle a giggle. Well, she was learning about Naruto, one piece at a time. Today she could say she learnt he quite enjoyed playing on words to tease others. Not maliciously, but enough to get a laugh at the targets expense.

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After Naruto had arrived the rest of the day seemed to fly by. Perhaps it was the energy he gave off in waves, or maybe it was just how interesting he made the normal uninteresting. All Hinata knew was that seemingly all-of-a-sudden she and he were travelling to the training field he took her the other day. To distract her from her own nerves she was focusing on his attire; which consisted of an orange and black shirt under a standard chuunin vest, with orange pants. His head band worn around his forehead on a black cloth, slightly too long for its purpose, resulting in two 'tails' of black cloth fall down past his neck.

He turned around. Hinata halted, looking around and realising they were already here.

"Alright!" he said with a smile. "Taijutsu!" he called out. Hinata stood there blankly, unsure of what to do

"Alright then, show me your stance" he instructed. Hesitantly, Hinata obeyed. Naruto circled her slowly. Suddenly, she felt him pull her chest back, straightening up her back. Then he pulled her hind leg further out. After a further few encirclements he stood back in front of her, and gave her thumbs up. She would've smiled were she not so nervous. After her standing there for a few minutes she had to ask.

"A-Ano… Naruto-sempai?" She asked unsurely

"Just keep the pose" he instructed. She couldn't help but feel quite self conscious. She was just standing there with him watching her completely, how could she NOT feel self conscious.

"Alright, relax" he said. She did so gladly. Another minute passed without him saying a word, Hinata had an odd feeling she knew what was coming.

"Take stance" he said. She had suspected as much, but she obeyed. Again Naruto corrected her stance.

He had her do this repeatedly for what felt like a considerable amount of time until eventually she decided to try more than a two word question

"N-Naruto-sempai… why are we doing this?" she asked doubtfully, but he didn't respond, he just smiled at her. She didn't know what to think. He was experienced, and she had no reason to believe he would lead her astray, but she didn't understand the purpose. This kept up for the rest of the night; just her holding pose, then relaxing, and repeating over and over.

By the time she was going home she was aching slightly, and disappointed. Granted she wasn't expecting to see massive progress in a single evening, but what she DID do had no point whatsoever. As she made her way into the Hyuuga residence she couldn't help but stop at the training posts they kept on the grounds. Looking around she decided to give herself some sort of work out before retiring for the night.

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The next day Hinata woke up feeling quite disappointed and confused by her experience the previous night. She repeated the evening over and over in he head as she did her morning rituals and made her way to the academy. In the end she decided to label it down to something she wouldn't understand at this point, perhaps some sort of higher ninja sync of some kind. But she wouldn't lie if asked; she was rather disappointed by the experience, it wasn't half of what she was hoping for.

As fate would have it, it turned out most of the day they were going to be doing taijutsu practice. Hinata groaned to herself as she sank her head into her arms on the desk. But it got better.

Iruka swiftly explained they would be practising basic strikes and blocks. They would be broken down into pairs with whom they would practise _responsibly_. Hinata knew how this was going to end, given that this was an area in which she was starting to fall behind the rest of the class. She turned to face her partner for the day; Sasuke.

It was almost enough to make her want to cry. Last night she spend several hours 'practicing' taijutsu, which was in fact a complete dud of a lesson. She also happen to mention a private little dream would be to beat Sasuke at something before graduation, that is assuming she did graduate, something which was looking decreasingly likely.

So today, just because some deity somewhere must sincerely hate her, Sasuke would spend today beating on her.

Unsteadily she raised her stance against Sasuke who was already in his. Sasuke didn't bother to ask if he should strike first, nor checked if she was ready. The strikes came hard and fast, so much so even blocking correctly was barely enough. By the third strike she was off balance, by the forth she had fallen down. She winced as she picked herself up, embarrassed she glanced at the Uchiha, who was giving her a look with a raised brow. He was clearly thinking as highly of her as she was herself. She got into stance again. The blows came again.

This time she was down in 3, as Sasuke was guiding his strikes like heat-seeking missiles right into the weak points of her blocks. Sasuke sighed audibly. Hinata clenched her teeth in frustration with herself. She didn't expect to be able to beat Sasuke, nor close to it, but she _knew_ she was better than being knocked to the floor in so few strikes.

"Why don't you try attacking me" Sasuke offered, though seemingly already tired of her, his tone of voice was neutral, she was thankful of at least that. She nodded in agreement, having raised herself again she took stance.

She struck speedily, but did not try to overdo it and risk loosing control or balance. Sasuke blocked her attacks a bit too simply. Several times she was able to continually strike up to a dozen times consecutively, however it was obvious Sasuke didn't even need to try. He didn't seem to struggle to keep up with her speed, and when she struck it felt as though she was striking a wall, he was clearly much stronger than her.

The day dragged on. It only got better after they swapped partners. No one could make Hinata feel less of herself than Uchiha Sasuke. He was everything she wasn't. Strong, skilful, intelligent, confident, popular… the list, if it was written would be extensive.

She later practiced with Ino, then Kiba and finally Tobio. Ino was a significant improvement to Sasuke however, she was the top performing kunoichi in their class. Hinata admired Ino to an extent, which didn't do anything for her confidence for Ino to show exactly how much stronger and faster she was than Hinata.

Kiba was, like both of her previous partners both stronger and faster, however unlike the previous too he was rough, and uncontrolled. Maybe it was a weakness of his, or maybe he didn't really realise how much he could hurt her. Either way Hinata was left felt quite bruised afterward.

After Tobio, who was stronger and had a better hold of the techniques, Hinata was left feeling both weak and humiliated. Even in these practice training sessions the difference in their levels was very easily notable.

By the end of the day she was feeling a little worse for wear. Her body hurt. Her arms hurt. Her legs hurt. Her self confidence had been knocked down a peg, and all she could think about counting on, was that her next lessons with Naruto held more promise. It seemed like a long shot at this.

All she was asking for at this point was that her father didn't ask her about her progress. She just couldn't deal with that right now.

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Over the course of the following two weeks that is all Hinata would do during the hours she spent with Naruto was raise and lower her stance, much to her growing frustration, each day, each hour, each minute seeming more pointless than the last. She had spend a grant total of 8 days over the past two week with Naruto, 5 hours per day, making a total of 40 hours spend raising and dropping stance. She was seeing no improvement or purpose at the academy or anywhere else. So far as she could tell she was spending hour upon hours just repeating a pointless exercise over and over and over again.

By now even the timid none-confrontational Hinata was getting close to her limit of how long she could be polite about it for. As she rose her stance again for what seemed to be the millionth time she finally had enough

"Naruto-sempai! Why are we doing this over and over again! I'm struggling! I'm really struggling at the academy! And all we're doing are these stupid exercises over and over! I came to you because I need help Naruto!" she yelled at first, her resolve starting to soften toward the end. As she spoke her situation aloud it really hit home, she could feel that pain in her throat telling her if she was going to cry shortly, she tried in vain to swallow it, but it did nothing to ease the feeling.

Naruto who had been looking at her rather surprised by the outburst, smiled at her once more, not saying a word.

She was about to re-summon her courage and shout at him when all of a sudden Naruto smile vanished instantly, he bolted toward her. In the instant she just had time to block him as he came bounding into her, they both crashed into the floor, rolling around before Naruto push away skidding to his feet. Hinata quickly rose too, raising her stance.

She didn't have time to ask questions as he pulling out a kunai, she eyed it cautiously. He threw it! She threw herself to the side, not trusting her speed to dodge Naruto's throw, as she turned she found Naruto already upon her. He threw her a punch, which is was able to deflect finding her stance automatically raised. Several consecutive strikes later Naruto leapt back. Hinata was breathing heavily, the shock of what was happening taking a strong effect on her. He dropped his stance and relaxed, his smile returning, uneasily she lowered her own.

"You asked me what the point of it is" Naruto began "Do you see it now?" he asked with a grin. Hinata was breathing hard, and was well out of her comfort zone, but she couldn't deny him his point. It was well made indeed.

"The first lesson in taijutsu; before you even need to learn how to make a punch, or even to block, is how to be ready." Naruto explained with a level of satisfaction "Now you have proven you can be ready at all times, your stance is strong and you can raise it without thinking." He said smiling proudly at her. "Phase one of our training is complete!"

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Auther Notes: Another Chapter completed!

I understand some of you might be asking the question:

Why could Hinata stand up against Naruto when in the practice sessions she had been defeated easily?

As shortly and simply as possible, first of all, with the exception of Sasuke the academy students wouldn't really be able to hold back and keep a good form of their taijutsu at this point. Naruto on the other hand can hold back since he is more proficient.

Hinata did NOT get a taijutsu boost yet my friends, baby steps

She was also attacked (well in a manner), the adrenaline boost she would have received I expect would have given her a bit of an extra boost for the short duration.


	5. Chapter 4: Date at Ichiraku's!

Author Notes: Hey howdy hey folks! Well I figure it's due time we push on with the story a bit, yeah? Fantastic, knew you'd agree.

I want you all to give a thank you to my new Beta-Reader Curse. He's reading awful grammar, so you don't have to! =)

In celebration to the glory that is a Friday, today's chapter will extra large! Enjoy!

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Just a list of responses to reviews:

Reponse to Uzumaki Ricky who wrote:

_EXCELLENT JOB! WHEN'S THE NARUHINA ROMANCE GONNA START?_

Well romance is difficult to create between two people when neither participant loves the other ;p

Remember, Hinata is meeting and being around Naruto for the first time. It's his character which she falls in love with him for. Give 'my Hinata' time to fall for him, then the romance will fall thick and fast I'm sure.

But because I'm as awesome as I am, I'll fit some in, inside this chapter, just for you. One off though!

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Reponse to JayTang who wrote:

_Hmmm, its a very good start so far, but I am curious: where did you get the idea for this story?_

_It just so happens I have almost this exact scenario as a choice for a poll on my profile on what I'm going to write next (along with about 70 other choices), and I have most definitely seen authors immediately start ripping off my ideas. If you did happen to get some inspiration from my poll, that's fine, but if not, well... I guess great minds think alike, neh?_

The idea came to me after reading Hinata's Confession. Upon that I reflected and re-watching episodes that highlight that Naruto in the canon series has been a sensei to Hinata all along, just not directly. It's really just an expansion on that. Though the development of Naruto's character is more complex, that is how the story came to mind.

Don't worry about other author's 'ripping' on your idea's, that's just proof that your idea is a good one. Take a look at my fanfic Missing Memories. Certainly to my knowledge it's the first of its kind (though I never finished it). But you shouldn't get angry or upset that others saw it and thought

"You know what? YES, I'm into that"

It's really a compliment =) Best of luck in your writings my friend!

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**Naruto Sempai: Chapter 4 – Date at Ichiraku's!**

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Hinata looked at Naruto in shock, awed at what had just taken place. She looked down at herself, unable to form coherent thought. What just happened? Her body had reacted on its own, moving before she'd even realized what was going on. It was all just...instinct.

"Scary isn't it?" Naruto said, his usual smile in place. All Hinata could do was nod slowly in agreement.

"You always had the capability. I mean, I knew from the first time I saw you that you had the potential," he continued in a casual tone, his smile still in place, "You're the latest in a long line of Hyuuga warriors, taijutsu specialists. But you feel inferior, like you're falling behind the rest of your age group...so you train twice as hard." He walked towards her, a knowing look on his face that proved to her he had her totally figured out. She could only look at him, unable to form a reply.

"It's just like when I told you to look people in the eye...if you do something enough, it becomes automatic. The forms become imprinted on your muscles, so your body can act without you telling it to." He said casually, passing it off as if it wasn't a big deal. "But it's just a taste of what I know you _can_ do," he said, leaning against one of the training stumps, "And I know you've been thinking about quitting on me...So, what'd you think?"

Hinata continued to just look at him blankly as she digested what he said.

"Still want to quit?" Naruto offered quietly, provoking a slow shake of the head from Hinata.

"N-no, I…" she began. She swallowed hard and tried again "I beg your forgiveness Naruto-Sempai!" she blurted out, bowing low. Naruto paused, then chuckled. He placed a hand on her head, ruffling her hair gently.

"There's nothing to forgive, silly" he said with a smile. He let his hand drop to his side, and she straightened up. "It's natural to get frustrated when you don't see yourself moving. But I told you I'd have you beat Uchiha Sasuke in Taijutsu, and that is a promise I'm going to make good on." He said, smiling warmly. For the first time in over two weeks, she smiled back.

"Now, we need to get busy!" he announced clapping his hands together, and moving away into the open field leisurely. "All that stance-dancing is good, but it does have a way of eating the time. From now on any practice you do when you aren't with me will be strictly stance practice until I say otherwise. As for our time, I think it's time we got more physical" He turned back to face her, a small distance between them. "Okay, now show me what you've got" he ordered, gesturing her to 'bring it' with a gesture of a hand. Hinata blinked, before assuming her pose. She then dashed forward and attacked with several fist strikes and kicks. In the middle of her assault she was stopped by Naruto stopping a punch with his finger tips of an open palm. She looked at him to find him looking at her with a slight frown.

"How did I stop your attack?" he suddenly asked. Hinata blinked smartly.

"You used your hand?" she half asked. Naruto lowered his hand and shook his head

"Did I stop your hand physically?" he pressed, trying to see if she could figure it out.

She couldn't.

"Okay, well, let me explain it then." He said folding his arms "I didn't stop your attack, I just put something in front of it, and eased pressure onto it. Which means you stopped your own strike…" he said, letting her absorb what he was saying.

"I-I…" she began, but Naruto cut her off by putting his finger on his lips.

"The reason is you're afraid to hurt me" Naruto told her "Which is…. Well it's a bit rubbish really" he said with a shrug. Hinata looked down at her feet.

"Don't do that" he said, lifting her chin "Don't look down, never look down, there's only bad things down there." He gave her a reassuring smile, before letting go. Hinata couldn't help but smile back as she looked into his great blue eyes. By now looking into peoples eyes as they spoke had become quite natural. She rarely looked away from them when in conversation, but still had a weakness of looking away when she didn't have anything to say. But she was working on it slowly.

"Here's how we are going to do this then." Naruto said "How do you feel about getting wet?" he asked with a smirk.

"Eh?" was Hinata's intelligent response.

The training, Naruto revealed, was simply performing her moves without striking, standard performance and repetition. Well, not so simple, the catch was to do it while submerged up to the shoulders to neck in water.

Moving water.

Moving water that she was facing towards.

Needless to say Hinata was fighting to keep her footing, let alone even attempting to perform her stances correctly. She slipped and splashed under the surface _again_. As she spluttered to the surface she rubbed her hair out of her face. It didn't help that the water was cold.

"Keep it up Hinata! It will be hard at first, but just keep at it and it will get easier!" Naruto called out to her. She gave him a small smile, acknowledging his support, before again attempting to stand herself against the current. After struggling to get footing, she braved another strike forward, causing the water to splash onto her face thus causing her to loose a split second focus, resulting in her falling under again.

Naruto sighed. It would take awhile, but this would prove to being essential for her to master. She'd never even make a passing grade if she didn't mean her attacks, or allowed minor things to shake her focus. If only she could be rid of them she would atleast make a decent grade in her taijutsu. After that all he'd have to do is bring her up to a higher standard, how hard could that be?

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The next morning, Hinata had a stuffed nose and a throbbing head. She had taken some medicine for it; however, they only succeeded in dulling the effects slightly. That had to be enough for the time being, as the academy wouldn't be stopping for anyone, least of all the inept little Hyuuga girl. As she preceded through her morning rituals she reflected on last night. Over which she felt a number of emotions power powerful and subtle.

The strongest of which was definitely her happiness, which mainly stemmed from the sudden realisation that the past two weeks though being very unusual training, had actually been very worthwhile. Something Naruto had proven very strongly. She was also very excited. It was like the day at the academy when Naruto had taught it all over again. She felt that she had taken not only a step, but a full stride forward. That was how it felt in contrast to other days at least.

On the other hand she was not tired, her muscles still felt the current pushing against her, making her movements awkward and over-powered.

'_Even if it's strange, I know now that Naruto-sempai is a person to be trusted_' she thought to herself as she made her way to the academy. '_I never would have believed that practising my stance in the manner I did would be so effective. But then… it was_' she mused to herself. Even now Machinate was slightly disbelieving of her own actions on _Automatic_ last night. She couldn't fight that well when she tried. She could only take Narrator's word for it that what happened was a result of her unused skills being surfaced because there wasn't time for it to be hindered by her apprehension. It was certainly the only explanation that made any sort of sense. Yet it was still somehow striking a cord of disbelief, despite her being there first hand. She had even wondered if it was some beautiful generous, but that was even more far-fetched she supposed.

She sat herself on her usual chair, ready for another day of whatever was about to be thrown at her. She sat looking out the window at the grey skies as she twiddled her fingers on the desk. She didn't notice someone sit down next to her, far to busy in her own head wondering what her new tutor was doing right about now.

"Hey" came a cool voice from her right. She turned to see Sasuke sitting next to her in his usual fingers crossed, hands together style of sitting.

"G-Good morning, S-Sasuke-kun" she greeted unable to fully suppress her slight confusion.

"Yeah, Good morning" he said almost in a scoff as he glanced out at the grey skies. Hinata flinched slightly at his response, not being able to help but take it personally. They sat there for a minute in silence before Hinata opted to speak again.

"A-Ano, Sasuke-kun, why are y-you sitting back here?" she asked, deciding anyone would be curious. Sasuke glanced at her without moving his head before responding.

"Because I wanted to talk with you" he responded. Hinata waiting for him to continue, but it seemed he wasn't about to. Inwardly she sighed. He wanted to talk, and he wasn't talking. She hated to say it, even mentally, but; Typical Uchiha Sasuke.

"Wh-What is it you would like to talk about?" she pressed. Sasuke paused before answering, clearly not something he was comfortable about talking. Well he wasn't comfortable with talking socially at all, but this it seemed was even less desirable.

"Uzumaki Naruto" Sasuke said. It was Hinata's turn to pause. She herself had been wanting to speak to someone about him. Far be it from her to gossip, but the boy was an enigma to everyone.

"O-Oh" was all she said in response. This time she couldn't think of anything to say herself, and so the two proceeded to sit in silence.

"I've seen you two together" Sasuke randomly stated. Hinata looked at him with a blink. "At that ramen stand; Ichiraku's" he finished, answering Hinata's silent question of where. She breathed a sigh of relief, she would be mortified if Sasuke had seen her doing her training. For some reason the idea of speaking to Sasuke about it embarrassed her.

"Oh, it s-seems that is one of Naruto-sempai's favourite p-places to eat" she explained unsure of what else to say. Sasuke turned his head to look at her for a moment, before returning his look ahead.

"Are you two going out?" he asked. Hinata froze. She felt her cheek heat up, and her body go numb, then she snapped back into control.

"S-Sasuke-kun!" she squeaked. "It's not like that!" she insisted, earning a confused look from the Uchiha. She turned to look out of the window again, all too aware of the heat on her cheeks. She wasn't sure why the question embarrassed her the way it did, but she couldn't help how she reacted. Sasuke seemed surprised by her response too, earning her a minute silence

"So, what do you know about him?" Sasuke asked, now seemingly attempting to make casual conversation. Hinata glanced back before answering still feeling slightly uncomfortable.

"W-Well, not much." She admitted "Just that he's a chuunin ninja who likes ramen." She continued, feeling herself starting to speak more freely "I've been trying to find out things about him, b-but he's not really into talking about himself so much" she finished, surprised by how much she enjoyed saying it, to Sasuke of all people. He nodded in acknowledgement

"I see. I too have been trying to learn about him." He confessed "Someone our age who is so advanced…" he trailed off. Hinata smiled shyly

"S-so he interests you then?" She poked. Sasuke glanced at her as if to question her choice of words but didn't press on it

"I suppose you might say that" He said. Hinata couldn't help but think to herself that Naruto might be in trouble if Sasuke admirers heard Sasuke say that. She smiled to herself at the thought.

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As the day went on Hinata was surprised by how much she spoke to Sasuke. He'd never said more than two words to her before, but there he was talking to her freely. They mainly spoke about Naruto, both supposing idea's as the certain facts about the blonde. Sasuke, it turned out, believes that Naruto was a scout type Ninja based upon his mastery of the shadow clone jutsu he displayed on the first day. He didn't really believe Naruto was a combat type ninja due to his age, and his appearance given his rank he found it too difficult to believe.

Hinata listened with interest to Sasuke. She didn't admire him as other girls in their class did, but she did respect Sasuke, and was quite surprised in a positive way that he'd chosen to speak to her so much. He even spoke to her about their taijutsu practice, attempting to help her by explaining what he felt she was doing wrong, which was much the same as what Naruto at told her; afraid of hurting the other person, even when blocking. Together she might've actually said they had a good time. It certainly helped the day speed along

She did how neglect to tell him Naruto had become her mentor out of hours. Deciding that there wasn't really any need to divulge such information, and that if might only have a negative effect. Even if that wasn't true, she would be embarrassed to tell Sasuke, the top of the class, that she was taking extra lessons to help her pass the test.

As she walked home from the academy she was thinking of Sasuke. Her opinion on him had changed in the space of a day. Before she had felt he was very elitist, and had no time for anyone who wasn't as talented as he. But now she saw him as an introvert, not unlike herself. He just wasn't that confident in confiding in others. Something she didn't have a problem relating to in the least. She never would have thought the two had anything in common before today.

"Hey, Hinata!" a voice came from ahead. She looked up from her feet to see Naruto himself come running towards her.

"Good Evening, Naruto-sempai, i-is there something the matter?" She asked, given that she wasn't due to see him again until tomorrow evening. Naruto grinned at her with his cheeky fox-like grin.

"Nope, nothing what so ever, Buuut!" he said moving his hands behind his back. "Basically they are giving discounts at Ichiraku's ramen for couples, tonight only!" he explained, his grin in place. Hinata rapidly began heating up "So, what do you say, want to be my date for the evening?" he said offering his arm. Hinata just looked at him

"Na-Naruto-sempai…" she whispered in embarrassment. Naruto could see it. He chuckled

"Ohh come on, hey tell you what, if you do I'll let you ask some questions about me, I know you've been wanting to" and with that he took her by the hand and lead her toward the stall. Hinata was just crimson. She couldn't help but notice how warm Naruto's hand was, and then soon after how hot and sweaty hers felt.

All too soon Naruto was seating her down, before sitting next to her.

"Hey, Old-man! I brought my date!" he called out, Hinata focused on the chop sticks infront of her, like they were the most interesting thing in the world. Anything so that she wouldn't have to look up.

"Well, what do you know! Naruto, I never knew you had a _girlfriend_" he teased. Hinata wanted to die.

"This is Hinata-chan" Naruto said proudly, "Come on Hinata let old-man Teuchi see your pretty face." He nudged.

_Smack_

Hinata's head hit the table. Naruto looked at her for a moment, wondering what happened. He lifted her up to see she had just fainted. He frowned for a moment before sitting her upright against the wall on her chair. He thought she'd have a better tolerance than that.

He left her there, keeping an eye on her as he ate his discounted ramen happily. Due to how much he could eat Hinata woke up before he was finished.

"Ahh, they were go" he said with a smile "Thought you were going to miss out on all the food for a minute there" Hinata blinked dazily as she re-gathered her bearings.

She remembered.

The suddenly wished she didn't.

Naruto called her pretty, for some reason that gave her a very uncomfortable feeling in her stomach, like a soft, light tickle. It was a very strange feeling.

"So, Hinata what do you want?" Naruto asked. Hinata looked at him before shrugging slightly

"N-Not sure y-yet" she murmured, as she picked up a menu and hid behind it, trying desperately to calm herself down. She succeeded as much as she was going to in the space of a few minutes. She was just glad Naruto seemed to understand, or at least grateful that he _really_ didn't. They ate quietly for a few minutes before Naruto spoke.

"So, what I said earlier. I take it I am right in thinking you do have question you'd like to ask them, yes?" he asked knowingly. Hinata flushed, embarrassed to be caught out as to being so nosey.

"We-Well, sort of" she admitted, poking her fingers together. Naruto smiled

"Understandable. I get allot of that sort of thing. But as you've probably guess, I'm not so much a fan of answering. So I've decided you can earn the answers." He said with a grin. Hinata looked at him, with a less-than-great feeling in her stomach.

"Don't worry about how, I'll fix it into your training. But for now, you can ask me one, after all you did come along here, a little less than completely willingly." He said. Hinata looked at her ramen, one question? She had a million

"I-I'll save it, until I can think of something g-good" she said looked at him. He smiled at her.

"A wise choice" he said with a grin. She smiled back, a faint blush still tinting her cheeks pink.

"So what would you like to talk about?" He said, getting back to his bowl "How was your day at the academy?" he asked, proceeding to 'fill up' on noodles.

"G-Good. Odd too though, S-Sasuke-kun sat with me, and spoke to me most of the day" she said looking at her own bowl again.

"Ahh, good lil Sasuko eh? Hows he doing? Still calling himself Sasuke?" he asked, Hinata smiled a little, remembering the event and nodded "Bless" was all Naruto cooed in response "So I take it he normally doesn't sit next to you?" Naruto checked. Hinata nodded. "Hmm, odd, maybe he's got a crush on you" he teased. Hinata blinked, looking at Naruto.

"N-No I don't think so, he actually wanted to talk about you" she said thinking back to it.

"Me? Huh, weird" was all Naruto said "Still, I suppose he's curious, and I expect Mr Top-of-the-class thinks he's nothing better to do" He mused aloud. They sat in silence as Naruto ate, and Hinata occasionally took in a mouthful until she decided to ask about how much might 'earn' the other questions.

"Ano, Naruto-sempai, how will I be e-earning the extra questions?" Naruto grinned

"Now Hinata, that's for me to know and you to find out, you naughty little devil" Again, she felt an odd heat rise in her cheeks.

"Don't worry yourself about it. As I said, I'll tied it into your training. So if you do so well, you can ask another, or something." He said "I'm really not fond of answering questions, but I understand you're curious and it gives you a reason to trust me, so this is me negotiating." He said, laying it before her. She considered, it seemed fair enough, as in truth he didn't have to tell her a thing about himself.

Through the rest of the evening Hinata sat with Naruto in a comfortable silence, occasionally she would say something, or ask and he would respond, but the conversations died out quickly. Perhaps it was that there were there as a 'couple' or that Hinata was trying to think up a question, but she couldn't seem to hold a conversation quite so well tonight for a reason she couldn't pin point.

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Over the course of the following weeks Hinata would struggles in the river, trying to performing the exercise Naruto had set for her. Struggling at the academy as per usual, however she was sensing a slight change in her performance in Taijutsu, though only minor. But she push onward, having faith that Naruto was leading her forward, she kept at it, hours upon hour of practicing in the water, and subsequently falling down in it.

She went through several colds, though getting better soon enough it was only a temporary state under she had another, the only consolation of which being the time in which she spent with the colds was slowly getting shorter. However, as with her previous training, she felt no improvement from doing the exercise. She was just running on blind faith in the blonde-boy-ninja.

At the academy life ran on much as it had done for all the years past. Though she notice on occasion Sasuke might have something to say to her, in most cases some form of advice. This was something she couldn't explain. Perhaps the one day they spent talking together had made her more to him than she would've thought, but she couldn't tell. He was quite mysterious in his own way. Fortunately he rarely spoke of Naruto to her again. She was oddly afraid he might find out about her extra lessons with him. Partly due to embarrassment and partly due to her believe Sasuke might see it as her being deceitful having not mentioned it.

Mostly Hinata tried to keep to herself and step by step try her best to improve herself, no matter how futile it seemed at the end of each day when she saw how little she was able to do.

However stressful and hopeless it seemed she pushed on, just hopeful that Naruto would be able to conjure some sort of a miracle with her, which is what it seemed she would need at this point. Every day she was with him she would walk straight into the river and try her best to do what she needed to. She could feel herself making slight progress. She wasn't falling down after every strike anymore, and was able to fix herself back up much faster than she was able to at first. But in even so, she hadn't been able to see the point of it. All she knew was that Naruto had been right before.

She stood before the river again, looking at the water flowing down stream. She knew she would spend the next few hours in it, and fighting to stay on top of it. She was just about to walk into the water when a hand on her wrist stopped her.

"Not tonight" Naruto said, letting go "Tonight we're going to see the results of your training thus far in effect"

Hinata nodded, and smiled slightly, glad that the time had come. After the previous example of his teaching she would probably of continued with it up until the exams themselves, but she was all the gladder to stop and see the effects of why she had been doing what she had been doing. Suddenly several clones appears next to Naruto.

"You're going to take on my clones, in a series of one on one fights. And I must stress, you _must_ come at them with the will to hurt them. They are clones, and so there's no reason you shouldn't strike to hurt. Now come! For each one you break you can ask me one question." He said, all the clones grinning. Hinata gulped hard, taking her stance.

The first clone stood before her, taking his own stance. She looked him over, the stance he was using was much the same as the one they taught at the academy, at least she would have familiarity on her side.

The clone leapt forward

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Author Notes: Okay chapter ends there.

I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Before I leave I present to you a opportunity for interaction!

Naruto in this will be an enigma, it will be awhile before I make any plans to explain anything about him. So you get to vote in;

**What do you want Hinata to ask Naruto?**

The answer will be chosen based upon believability, creativity and the all important fun-factor!

Until Next time!


	6. Chapter 5: What is means to be Strong!

Author Notes: Author response to _QueenofStars91 _who wrote:

_Good story! Does Naruto still have the nine-tails in him? :3 Will we ever see the gang in their partII form? It would be so cool if Naruto goes on his two year journey and comes back and sees Hinata. :3_

Yes, Naruto is still the Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi no Yoko

Yes, I am currently planning on this extending to Shippuden.

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**Naruto Sempai: Chapter 5 – What it means to be Strong!**

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The yellow blur she was fighting swooped in on her left, coming in for an attack. Throwing her arms up in a hasty defence, she was barely able to fend it off. She threw out a jab at his kidney, but he quickly bent around her hand and came around to her side. Causing her to leap back to put him back in front of her. Byakugan activated, she watched him like a hawk watching a rabbit. She waited patiently for a hole in his defence that she could exploit. So far, he'd been jus what she would expect from a chuunin...Flawless in his attacks, and using his superior speed to move in, attack, and retreat before she could get a good, solid attack on him. Yes, patience was the key.

He attacked again, and Hinata darted back to avoid a fist. She ducked as Naruto kept coming towards her, throwing a spinning kick at her head. Seizing the opportunity she struck him in the base of the spine with her juuken.

_Poof_

Naruto grinned, and clapped for her slowly, clearly satisfied with her progress over the past few weeks.

She had gone from being demolished by a single clone, to being able to take one out every night without fail, sometimes even two or three. Naruto had to withdraw his offer of a question every time she defeated one.

"Very good Hinata" he said proudly. She smiled at his acknowledgement, with a warm glow in her chest of her feeling good about herself too.

"Thank you, Naruto-sempai" she thanking bowing slightly. No matter how often she did it, Naruto didn't think he'd ever get used to it.

"No need to bow, you always do it…" he murmured

"You a-always tell me not to. But it's hard" she replied. Naruto gave her a look

"It's hard _not_ to bow?" he questioned disbelievingly. Hinata smiled at him.

"It's hard not to show my appreciation" she corrected. Naruto sighed, letting it slide, how could he say anything against that?

"Cheater" he murmured, clearing his throat.

"You're starting to come a little into your own now," he said, glancing up at the sky, "You have been ever since you switched to using juuken, actually. It makes sense given that it's your heritage after all." He said, folding his arms in thought "As we've discussed previously, your strengths are your chakra control and your flexibility. Your weakness being your physical strength. However, juuken doesn't rely on strength, so it really doesn't matter that much. Your chakra control and flexibility will naturally compliment your juuken by simply giving you greater opportunities to hit and a greater endurance due to efficiency. BUT! Given our objective; I want to push you on your flexibility with a slight raise in speed training." He finished, finally stopping for a breath.

Hinata nodded to his every point. Ever since she had begun training against his clones, however painful at times, she felt much more motivated whenever he spoke to her about training or advancement, as she knew it would now be up to her to push for it.

"Speed training will be simple, though time-consuming." He said with a smile "Flexibility will be… more interesting." He said with some consideration. "But, don't worry about it for now. Tonight we'll finish up with one more clone, and then we'll call it a night. It's getting late now, anyway" he said, another clone popping into existence next to him.

Hinata took her stance as the clone charged. Taking her time, she dodged whenever able, blocking otherwise, and occasionally tried to counter attack.

Naruto smiled as he observed the spar. Hinata's confidence was what he was truly aiming to raise in this training, and it had the added bonus of being much more exciting than the river training. He was convinced she had the ability. He _knew_ she did after their first mini-spar. But he had to draw it out so that she knew it as well. That was hard enough, even when dealing with people who were confident in themselves. But when the person was timid, it was quite difficult indeed. Every clone she defeated would bring her a step towards the right direction. The only obstacle of major concern now was transferring her from clones to real bodies.

She got struck down by the clone, and Naruto winced ever so slightly, but his smile returned when she pulled herself back up.

He had a grand total of eleven weeks before the final exam. One week before the second of three pre-tests. Ideally he would like her to be performing highly in taijutsu by then, but given she was only used to fighting clones he couldn't be certain of how her performance will go.

_Poof_

The clone was destroyed. Naruto smiled, that was much faster than usual.

"Good work Hinata, you're coming a long way" he said encouragingly. He could see her trying to suppress a proud grin, and decided to egg it on "I mean it, defeating the clones of an experienced chuunin, and you're still at the academy. Even I can't make such a claim!" he said giving her a pat on the back. He saw her smile creep ever so slightly larger, and grinned to himself. So long as he could keep that up, she would stance a chance of beating the Uchiha.

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As Hinata sat at her desk, she was no longer thinking about how she might scrape a pass in each exam, but instead found herself going over her training in her mind. What she was doing right, what she was doing wrong and how to fix it. She occasionally even thought about Sasuke, and how good his taijutsu was. Daring to wonder the question; would she really be able to beat him?

A dozen weeks ago, it was a truly impossible dream. But lately, the boundaries of the possible and impossible seemed to be shattering. She had literally felt herself become just a little bit stronger, just a little bit faster. Her reactions more instinctive, even if it only bought her a millisecond of time, it was a millisecond she didn't have before!

She let her eyes fall slowly to her desk. At lest she was able to feel herself growing stronger. If, after all was said and done, she was still unable to beat Sasuke...it wouldn't really bother her. She'd grown stronger, and that was all that mattered.

"Today we will be doing Taijutsu" Iruka called out from the front. Hinata snapped upright. She hadn't even been listening to him, nor even aware class had begun. But that word brought her hurtling back into reality with a crash. She swallowed the stiffening knot in her throat down. She realised rapidly; she wasn't ready for this yet.

Time stops for no man...er, girl, though, and soon enough she found herself standing before Haruno Sakura. She couldn't complain about her enemy. Sakura was a middle level fighter. Hinata was some where deep _deep_ inside her, excited about practising with Sakura. She took stance, Sakura doing the same.

After a brief pause Sakura began her strike sequence. Hinata dodged Sakura's attacks one after another. She resisted allowing a small smile to slip through in sheer delight with her own abilities.

As she went on the offensive, it became apparent that Sakura was skilled enough to block most of her attacks. Which was a good sign, if they were in a real fight, blocking would be a near-meaningless action. She saw Sakura's expression change from neutral, to a hint of anger, apparently not pleased with her own performance. Hinata bit her lip, hoping she hadn't upset Sakura.

When Sakura began to strike again, this time her attacks came much faster and harder. Hinata struggled to dodge them, and had to increasingly more so block them. She felt their power push her own defences down a little. Sakura also seemed to be much better a dodging her attacks all of a sudden.

By the time they changed partners, Hinata had been struck several times, and was feeling much less confident.

Her next opponent was Aburame Shino. The tall silent boy was a person she never really spoke with, though given his nature she knew she was hardly a special case. He kept mainly to himself, wrapped up in his overly-large coat. At first he too gave her a tough time. Whether she got used to his speed, or if he was easing up on her, she couldn't tell. But as time went on, she found him a more equal opponent. She only hoped he hadn't felt the need to ease up on her. If he did, she would likely be humiliated by the gesture.

After which they broke for lunch. Hinata sat alone, as she did most days just sitting in a slight daze as she thought about their practice. She was disappointed she wasn't doing as well as she hoped she might. But should she really expect that level of progress so soon? She didn't know what to think. Only that she felt less confident that she did this morning. Much less.

She sighed as it was time to resume the practice, having already had as much as she felt she could take. Iruka called out the next partners. She looked up at her next opponent and paled.

Uchiha Sasuke.

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Jumping from building to building, Naruto added another "Mission Complete" to his list.

It was just another mission finished to Naruto. It being finished early was a slight inconvenience, as it gave him nothing to do for the rest of the day.

He grinned as he found he had stopped at Ichiraku's ramen. He was about to obey his subconscious instincts when he checked his watch.

'_Hmm, Hinata would be finishing about now_' he thought to himself with a small smile. '_Why eat alone when you don't have to?_´ he mentally asked rhetorically. Turning and leaping off to find the shy Hyuuga.

However when he did, it wasn't the picture he'd liked to have seen. The girl was swinging numbly on the swing in front of the academy, her face said it all. Clearly, something at the academy had gone very wrong. He leapt down, landing in front of her.

"Hey Hinata" he greeted softly, not wanting to come on too strong and put pressure on her. She looked up at him with big, sad eyes. Naruto's heart sank at the sight.

"H-Hi Naruto-Sempai" she said sadly, looking back at the floor. Naruto frowned at the sight. Did someone die? He couldn't help but wonder.

"What's wrong?" he asked as softly as he could manage. Hinata shook her head.

"N-Nothing" she stuttered out, though even she winced at how transparent her lie was.

"Hmm, okay then. Let's go and get some ramen, my treat. You can tell me all about 'nothing'" he said, with an air of insistence. He offered her his hand. She looked at it for a moment before hesitantly taking it. Naruto felt a notable lack of grip of her hand today, telling him that something really had beaten her down today. He sat her down and plopped himself next to her, and ordered for both of them. He looked at her as she looked down at the desk.

"So, what happened at the academy today?" he asked, assuming it as the most likely cause.

"J-Just t-taijutsu training" she murmured.

'_Ah_' Naruto thought, instantly, the pieces falling into place.

"So you trained against some pretty tough opponents then?" he asked. She nodded.

"Sasuke?" he ventured. Again she nodded.

"I see." He said, thinking of what else to say, but Hinata beat him to it.

"Th-They're really strong Naruto…" she little-more-than whispered "I th-thought I was making p-progress-" Naruto cut her off there.

"You ARE making progress, Hinata." He insisted "Sasuke is the top of your class, and from what I hear, one of the top taijutsu performers they've ever had at the academy. Anyone else… well, when faced with a superior enemy, especially one they might have thought as weak, people get angry. Which gives them speed and power, but costs them control. Now, are you telling me no one you fought today got angry?" he asked, looking at her, scanning her for the information.

Hinata twisted her lip, and shook her head.

"There you go then. Don't let one or two bad experiences get you down Hinata. You're doing great! All you need to do is have the confidence in yourself!" he said trying to re-encourage her. It seemed to have little effect however, as the food came they sat in silence, Naruto frequently looking at her as she mainly played with her food than ate it.

Halfway through his 4th bowl she turned to him. He instantly stopped eating, giving her his full attention.

"May I ask you a question?" she asked. And Naruto nodded, signalling for her to continue "Why are you training me Naruto-Sempai?" she asked, more directly than he was used to from the shy-Hyuuga. She was looking into his eyes as though the answer was written in them if only she looked hard enough. Naruto smiled at her

"That, my little Hyuuga, is a wasted question." He said with a grin. Hinata frowned slightly "I am training you for two reasons. The first is that you asked me of course!" he said as though it was the most obvious thing. Hinata was about to point out that didn't answer her question when he continued

"The second is that simply put; You're strong" he said, his smile fading, his cerulean blue eyes meeting hers with unshakable confidence. She couldn't muster the words to tell him he was wrong, not while he was looking at her like that. They sat like that for at least a minute before Hinata regained control of her voice.

"Wh-What do you mean, I-I'm strong?" she asked. Naruto grinned his foxy grin.

"Hinata, what did I tell you strong was?" he asked her. She looked away, thinking back to anything he might've said. "Or, more specifically, what did I tell you made a ninja successful?" he rephrased. Hinata looked back at him.

"G-Guts?" she half asked. Naruto nodded.

"That is the difference that defines a True Shinobi" he said solemnly "It's not about how good you are, how fast, strong, intelligent. It's the courage to get back up and keep trying. That's what _real_ strength is!" He said, looking into her eyes with the same unshakable look as before "From the moment I met you I knew here was a person at least as strong as myself. Your eyes told me all I need to know about you Hinata. You're like me. Or at least you could be, if you wanted to be. Your actions told me you do, because you asked me for help at the first chance you got. Maybe you recognised something of yourself in me too, as I have you. I don't know. All I know is that for as long as you ask for it, I will offer you all the help I am able, because I _believe_ in you completely. That is why I am training you" he finished. Hinata just stared at him, her face was warm, her lips were try and her body not responding. She couldn't say a word to his answer.

'_Uzumaki Naruto… Who ARE you?_' was all she could as much as think.

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After they had eaten Naruto had insisted on taking her to their training field. He would train the depression right out of her, that was what he would do before he allowed either of them to go home.

True to his word, Hinata was finding herself leaping, rolling and bending in all sorts of ways as she tried to avoid the attacks of two clones. Their timing was out of sync which was her only saving grace. She was barely able to hold on against them, counter-attacking at all was out of the question. She was stuck enough focusing on the two of them far too much to consider and execute some sort of counter offensive.

Naruto observed with a keen eye. The only way she would have a chance was to go offensive on one and defeat it quickly. The longer she kept this up the less stamina she would have to take out the remaining out. But he was going to leave it up to her to figure it out. There would be times when she would have to figure out the correct strategies or she would meet her end. This would serve as practice for such a time.

She leapt to the left, to dodge ones attack, putting said clone in the path of the other, who came bounding over the other. Again she leap to the left keeping them as together as possible, reducing the advantage of their numbers as greatly as she was able to. She was breathing hard, and knew that she couldn't keep this up forever. She had to think of a counter strategy quickly, or there would be no way for her to win.

The clones kept on top of her, their attacks relentless and increasing with accuracy. She wanted to strike back, but no opportunities came up. Any that she might normally have couldn't be taken advantage of due to the other. She'd never be able to land a blow without deliberately taking a direct hit, even then the chances of her blow landing seemed less than favourable. She landed from another leapt to dodge the dangerous duo.

That was when she saw it, in a single moment it was there, clear as day. She found herself jumping forward into the oncoming clones. The real Naruto leant forward in surprise and interest. The clones grinned as they swung for her. As they did Hinata instinctively twisted her body, narrowly avoiding the blows. As quickly as that had happened she shot her palms out at both of them.

_Poof_

She taken them out at the same time. She landed gracefully, turning to see the last remains of the smoke blow away into the wind.

Naruto stood there in shock for a moment before cheering.

"Haha!" he said running up to her and picking her up in a passionate hug. She rapidly grew scarlet "Look at you!" he said letting her go, giving her the biggest smile she'd seen yet "Warrior of the Hyuuga _INDEED_!" he cried, ecstatic. Hinata looked at him dizzily due to the amount of blood in her head from being hugged so intimately, as she had never been hugged like that in her memory.

Naruto was simply thrilled. He never would have guessed she could pull a move like that off. But now he knew she could he was instantly filled with a hundred different idea's on where to take her training next.

"Uchiha Sasuke" he said holding up a a hand, he clicked his fingers "Easy" he grinned. "If you can do a move like that already we might have to set out heights higher. But first, you've got to do it again" he continued in a energized rant as he produced two more clones.

Hinata smiled nervously, releasing something else about Naruto. He had a tendency to get very-carried away.

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Author Notes: That's a wrap boys and girls, hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoy chocolate (not likely ^^)

Keep any Questions you have for Hinata to ask rolling if you have any.

If there are any good ones I feel I can add into the chapter I will do it =)


	7. Chapter 6: Hinata beats Sasuke!

Author Notes: It's Friday night folks. So put your feet up, sit back, relax, and above all, enjoy your hard earned rest =)

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**Naruto Sempai: Chapter 6 – Hinata beats Sasuke!**

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'_Six_' Hinata thought as she sat looking at her reflection in the water. Today was just another day, a Saturday to be exact. One Naruto had insisted she took off to allow her body to recover. She didn't argue, each one of her muscles were stiff, and uncomfortable whenever she moved. If it was training again tomorrow she would gladly take a day off. That it was ordered was just a great excuse.

So there she sat, on one of the little bridges around Konoha, under which flowed a stream. She looked at the water in thought, but also because it was calming to her, and soothing. Her feet dipped in the water, the cool flow of water feeling just wondering on her sore feet. But that wasn't where her thoughts lay. She had six questions she could ask Naruto as part of their deal. She could ask him anything, and he would give her nothing but an honest answer.

She felt a strong temptation to use them. However found herself partially unwilling. He had been keeping to himself deliberately, which told her he didn't _want_ to talk about himself. She had to respect that. Doubly so given all he had done for her.

So instead she was playing around with questions she could ask him, deciding if she felt on became too powerful of a curiosity she would ask. The only problem was she had far more than six questions to ask.

How did you become so strong so quickly?

What was it like being so young when he became a ninja?

What are your family and friends like?

Who is your inspiration?

How can you have so much faith?

What are your ninja abilities?

Did someone train you like you're training me?

What do you _really_ think of me, Naruto-sempai?

She considered the last question, her cheeks warming.

Lately that had been another issue she couldn't explain. For some reason she found herself strongly curious as to what his thoughts about her were. She couldn't explain exactly why. Maybe she was just concerned he might feel he was wasting his time with her? That sounded like her.

Sighing to herself she pulled her feet up, and put her sandals back on. She picked herself up and began to walk into town. The final exams were only a couple of weeks away now. She was making certain to take special measures to keep her ninja equipment in pristine condition. She entered the weapons store to purchase a polishing and sharpening set. The two employees sat relaxing in conversation behind the counter.

"Freaking cheeky brat" she heard the man say "He really had the nerve to say that?"

"Yeah, then he said 'No problem, I'll pop back later'" the girl scoffed. The man laughed. Hinata continued to appear as though she was browsing

"I'd like to see him try that when I'm here" he replied with a distinct tone of menace in his voice. Hinata frowned, wondering who they were talking about, and what they could've done to earn such strong dislike of the pair behind the counter. Spotting a suitable set she picked it up and took it to the desk, handing it to the man. He grunted taking it off her.

As she waiting for him to cash it up she looked about all the products on the counter. Most of which were useless devices, just there to add a bit of flash. She looked behind the desk at the shelves, not picking out anything of interest. However a series of colours caught her eye, attracting her attention to a board of scanned the photos starting at the bottom, wondering what they were for. She looked about for some sort of sign, finding a 'Banned' list at the top of the photos. Right under which she saw a photo of Naruto. She blinked.

She couldn't imagine him doing anything to warrant being banned from a store.

"Ex-Excuse me" she said, causing the man to glance back at her "Why is Naruto-Sempai on the list of the banned?" she asked confused. The man snorted as a response, causing Hinata to edge back in repulse.

"Because he's a no good-" he began cutting himself short, he looked up with a groan before looking down "Because he's bad news little lady." He said with a demeaning tone.

"No good? What did he do?" she pressed, not able to think of a reason he would get banned. The man looked at her sternly before replying

"None of your business, girl. Now are you going to pay for this or not?" he snapped. Hinata resisted a flinch to his words, dropped money on the desk, snatched the set from the counter and promptly left, not waiting for the change. Upon leaving she felt a hiss of white hot emotion from within her. Anger. She found herself with a tensed jaw, and heavy eye brows, holding onto her purchase much more firmly than she needed to.

As she continued to walk past several stores she grew curious, and with her anger fuelling her nerve she took the time to enter stores she didn't need anything from. Just to scan their lists of banned customers if they had one.

She found that Naruto's picture was present in over half the stores which did have lists. Whenever she inquired as to the reason of his ban, she never got an answer. As a test she began to ask about other people on the list first. Finding out typical reasons; stealing, threatening violence, or abuse of merchandise. Whenever she pointed at Naruto's photo it was suddenly none of her business. She didn't buy it. Neither did she understand either.

She soon gave up, adding this to a list of things she didn't understand about her blonde mentor. As hard as she tried she couldn't think of a reason he would be banned from so many stores around town. No one reason made sense to her. And there being multiple reasons which clashed with his entire character that she had seen so far just seemed ridiculously unlikely.

Whatever his story was, it certainly had to be unique. That was the only conclusion she was able to come to for sure.

"…Uzumaki?" she heard the word from inside a nearby store. It instantly caused her to turn her heard in the direction it had came from. She slowly crept closer.

"You mean you don't know who he is?" one asked in obvious surprise. Hinata swallowed hard, she couldn't believe her luck! Of all conversations to stumble upon

"He's the little blonde hair runt. Goes on about being Hokage"

"Hah! Oh, _Him_?" a female voice laughed.

"Yeah, that's Uzumaki" one said

"And he's a chuunin?" the woman asked in disbelief

"Yep. From what I hear he's a pretty good one too." Another voice came, Hinata couldn't help but notice it was a little muffled.

"Really?" the woman asked in disbelief

"Truly" the muffled voice shot back "Well that is when he's serious"

"What do you mean by that?" she asked again

"Well… Let's just say he finds complicated solutions for simple problems" the muffled man said again.

"You said it. But you have to hand it to him…" another man said

"Yeah…" the muffled voiced replied in agreement

"Hand it to him…?" the woman questioned again.

"Maybe you'll find out. By the way, who's listening in back there?" the muffled voice came. Hinata's blood turned to ice. Without even thinking she turned and bolted away.

"Good going my cycloptic friend, you scared them away" The man said in a sigh. There was a slight pause before a response came

"Shut up, your breath stinks"

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The questions in Hinata's mind were ever present during her training with Naruto the following day. She was in a constant state of wanting to ask him about it, but something held her back.

All the shops having him banned from their store.

There was definitely something more than off about that. It seemed clearly different to her other questions. Many of which were what she supposed were 'normal' questions one person might have concerning another. But this, this was something different entirely. It felt almost like a conspiracy of some kind.

If she assumed it was true, that was indeed the case, then asking about it could result in allot of trouble

If she assumed it was false, and that it was something else, whatever the reason dozens of stores would ban a single person and would not provide the reason seemed deeply snoopy into the likely exact affairs which made him such a private person anyway.

By the end of it she hadn't the nerve to ask the question, and was left to confirm to herself that it was probably for the best. Some rocks are best left unturned.

However noble her line of thought might've been however, it didn't stop her trying to work it out on her own, though she was having supreme difficulty in even imagining a reason for it that wouldn't have resulted in imprisonment, or some other severe official punishment. The only thing she was able to conclude was that there was little to no chance of it being possible to work it out with the facts present.

She looked out the window as she took her usual spot at the back of the classroom. The sky was a dull grey, a typical Monday morning. In the back of her mind it panged that Friday would be another testing day. She shifted uncomfortably. Everyone around her was looking forward to becoming a genin, while she was dreading the prospect of finding out she lacked what it took to become one.

"Good Morning!" A familiar call rung out through the class room. Naruto. As the realisation hit, the room erupted into a loud greeting for the blonde. Hinata smiled, at the immediate warmth and energy of the room, surely this was something only Naruto was capable of.

"Great!" he said, replying to as many individuals as he could whilst moving to the head of the class "I'm fantastic, why wouldn't I be? Look at me" he said, straightening up his chuunin vest, and then grinning with a wink.

"Now!" he said, his voice rising over everyone else's "Today I'm told I am to go over…" he said looking at the sheet on the desk "Genjutsu, apparently" he said looking up, to find a somewhat deflated class. Genjutsu was widely regarded the most difficult as well as boring of all the subjects. And that was including History.

"What's wrong?" he asked, easily picking up on the energy. "Genjutsu is the ultimate teaching of 'looking underneath the underneath'" he defended. There was a hesitation around the room before Kiba decided to speak up

"Genjutsu's boring" he called out. Naruto looked up in surprise

"Boring? How could it be boring, I haven't done anything yet!" he smirked "What are you guys used to doing for this?"

"There's allot of theory to it" Kiba replied "We usually have to fill in sheets of paper on how to detect it and what it does and stuff like that"

Naruto stood listening patiently, after Kiba finished his eyebrows rose, and he smiled

"Well, this is a bit different, so tell you what; I'll make you a deal" he said, leaning back and folding his arms "If you can complete this one piece of paper in under…. 45 minutes then I can say you likely don't need the practise and we can move onto something else. What do you say? Call it a deal?"

There was a general murmur of agreement amongst the class, before Naruto proceeded to hand out sheets. Hinata sighed as she looked down at the sheet. She didn't mind them as much as others did, however she had to agree that it felt limited in answering them. Surely the progress they could make via sheets was limited. She picked up her pencil and scanned the problems.

'_Hmm, that's a little strange…_' she thought as she scanned the problems. She couldn't help but notice the first question was labelled 'question 2'. As she scanned the page she noticed they all followed the order normally after that. But there was no question one. She frowned. Looking up at the top of the page she double checked the instructions;

'_Study the sheet carefully and solve all the problems presented correctly._'

She paused after reading it. There was something curious about the way it read. She glanced around the room to discover no one else seemed bothered by the problem. She looked over at Naruto to discovered him looked at the class with a look of mild disappointment. It was barely readable, but it was there.

She looked back down to her paper in frustration, there was an itch at the back of her mind, and she couldn't shake it. Something about this sheet was just… wrong. She thought back to what Naruto had said

'_This is a bit different_'

She looked at the paper, excusing the mistake; this was very much like the other papers.

'_Genjutsu is the ultimate teaching of 'looking underneath the underneath'_'

She looked over her paper again, a curious thought coming into her head. She looked around quickly before, flashing through the seals

"Byakugan"

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Naruto flicked through the tests. He had to confess he was disappointed with Iruka's students. It seemed they had a talent for absorbing information whilst not really _listening_ to what was being said. After the test he had practised some theory with the class, using a timed smoke bomb as an answer ball. If the student who received it failed to answer in the given time, it exploded.

By the time he gave them a small recess to mark their papers more than a few of them were covered in the dark dust from the bombs, much to the humour of their fellow classmates.

"Another fail" he murmured to himself putting another paper headed with 'Inuzuka Kiba'. So far he'd been through most of the class, not one of them had passed. They needed allot of genjutsu work. Iruka had told him they were decent enough, and many were on course to passing the exams. But Naruto had a higher standard; genjutsu was the most dangerous of the 3 ninja arts in his opinion. It's danger both mental as well as the vulnerability created physically. He sighed in frustration as he put aside another fail.

_Hyuuga Hinata_

He smiled as he picked up the paper.

"Oh Hinata…" he said trailing off.

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The class slowly flowed back in after the minutes they were given, for the quick students to take a breather, and for the less quick to clean themselves off.

Hinata was the first to return. She was feeling quite pleased with herself for answering her questions in time, and not subjecting herself to embarrassment. She was also a curious mix between excited and nervous over the paper. It wasn't a test, she kept telling herself, but even so, that it was something Naruto would be marking seemed to make it more important. She would hate to make herself seem like a fool to him.

She fidgeted uncomfortably as everyone slowly found their places. Naruto waited at the front, looking at the papers with an unreadable expression.

After the class had quietened down he stood up, taking the papers in hand.

"Finished marking your genjutsu papers" he announced, looking around the room, with a notable absence of his usual grin.

"Yamanaka Ino, zero" he said, flicking a paper to the back. Ino looked horrified at getting a zero. Sakura turned and giggled at her rival.

"Haruno Sakura, zero" he said not looking up. Sakura snapped her head around from looking at Ino, her open agape in sheer horror.

"Eh?" she exclaimed

"Akimichi Chouji, zero" he continued. As he proceeded on, not one person got anything other than zero. Hinata could feel the room cool as everyones blood chilled at getting a zero. She felt her own already starting to cool in readiness.

"Uchiha Sasuke, zero" Naruto continued, again without looking up. This was a surprise. Even the stony Uchiha looked up in shock at the unpleasing result of his paper

"What?" he said aloud

"I said zero" Naruto repeated "Nothing, not one point, failure to solve the appropriate problems, the absence of correctly corresponding answers, or you just did a bit rubbish." He said looking back down. The Uchiha was visibly boiling at this.

"Hyuuga Hinata…" Hinata gulped "One hundred percent." He said looking up giving her a large grin. She froze, looking at him unblinking. The entire room turned to look at her at the same time. Slowly she sunk into her jacket.

"From THIS it seems to me as a whole you look like you need allot more work at Genjutsu" He said, setting the papers on the desk

"How did we fail?" Sakura asked out, in disappointment.

"Simple, you failed to look underneath the underneath" he said with crossed arms.

"What does that even mean?" another called out.

"It means in this world people are well aware you will second guess what is before you, and so, they _will_ prepare for that, setting a second, sometimes even third trap, or layer of lies for you. I means allot more than that, but for now that's what you need to learn" he explained, "Only Hinata was able to do this it seems" There was a silence through the class briefly before Sasuke spoke up

"It was the first question" Naruto grinned

"Well done Uchiha-san" he said with a solid clap "Not as fast as miss Hyuuga, but definitely a step forward. Who else noticed the absence of question number one?" he asked aloud. Most of the class rose their hands

"Who noticed the absence of anything that told you this was a question paper?" he asked again. This time only Shikamaru rose his hand.

"Hinata" he called up "Would you be so kind as to tell your classmates how you scored one hundred percent when they scored zero" Hinata felt her cheeks flush as the whole class turned to her, listening intently

"I-It w-was a g-genjutsu" she stuttered out quietly. Silence.

"What?" someone called out from the front. Fortunately, Naruto took over

"The papers had a weak genjutsu placed upon them. The first question instructed you to ignore all instructions from the following questions. Thus if you had left your papers blank, you passed with one hundred percent." He said grinning.

The class erupted into talking amongst themselves. Sasuke slowly turned to looked at Hinata. She blinked looking back at him before diverting her gaze. He turned back around. Hinata glanced back toward him with a small smile, she had just realised.

She just beat Uchiha Sasuke at something. By ALLOT. Maybe he realised that too. Just one small victory, nay tiny to the point of insignificance, but to her, it meant the world.

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Author Notes: Okay guys, that's it for today. I had a bunch of stuff I wanted to add on today, but I'm opting instead to make an entire chapter out of it over the weekend rather than make you wait until tomorrow for just a half of it.

Uzumaki Ricky asked me to note that he doesn't want to seem impatient due to a previous review, he was just a little excited worded his review perhaps a little wrongly. Something I think we can all appreciate, and happens to the best of you from time to time.

I say the best of you because I'm one of the very worst =)

Least I know it!


	8. Chapter 7: A Weapon

**Author Notes: **Honey I'm Home! I know you missed me so don't even try to hide it. As of about….. n….. Now, Naruto Sempai and Konoha High will return to receive a regular dose of updates. Good for the heart, haven't you heard?

Quick Reponses to PM's and Reveiws

I won't be using 'Allot' anymore, don't fret.

Yes, there are hints of Hina-Sasu because I want to create a bond between them. Not a pairing bond. However I feel that Sasuke needs to become close to someone in order for his 'destiny' to be fulfilled. While I definitely plan on creating a Naruto – Sasuke relationship given Naruto's current position there are parts of their 'canon' relationship which he cannot fulfil. Enter Hinata. Though don't misunderstand me, the story will be revolving predominantly around Hinata, so her relationship with Sasuke will mere be a way of me pushing extra story content for her in that manner! And Wow I'm sooo over answering this review! =P

Finally Naruto! I plan to take my time revealing my shiny new Naruto. My plans are to keep him very in character throughout this fic, with the only difference being his development. His high maturity is merely being a result of which. Let me know if you 'need' more Naruto time and I can see what I can do about it.

I could apologise for the delay until the cows come home (whatever that means, Heard it on The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, sounded good), but instead I'm going to write something one up. The next Chapter!

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**Naruto Sempai: Chapter 7 – A Weapon**

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The pitter-patter of rain surrounded Naruto's senses. His breathing was hard and strained, and his body becoming utterly exhausted. No matter how many times he fought Jiraiya-Sensei he was never unsurprised at how powerful his master truly was. Even after all these years, for all of his unique powers both of his own development and of his prisoner, all of the jutsu he had learnt, and his ever increasing mastery over all aspects of ninja combat. Even now he was barely able to faze Jiraiya, who could laugh off his attempts with genuine ease.

"Naruto-Chan, you're getting pretty strong" he complimeneted earnestly, without any sign of fatigue. "However…" he trailed off, Naruto relaxed his stance in curiousity to what Jiraya was going to say.

"I'll be leaving for awhile, so until I get back you're on your own" He said, folding his arms. Naruto considered.

"Research?" He concluded. Jiraiya paused, then grinned

"My books won't write themselves you know!"

"Typical" Naruto shot. Jiraiya frowned

"You just don't' appreciate mature material. But fear not. I have no doubt you will soon. I give it 2 years!"

"Unlikely"

"Likely!"

"Mature"

"Oh! Is that your preference?" Jiraiya came back with a wiggle of his eyebrows

"No!" Naruto shouted defensively

"Well, that's not exactly true now…" Jiraiya commented in a way which caused Naruto to pause

"…What ?"

"Well, I've seen you with that girl, who I'd have to say is quite mature-"

"Don't!" Naruto interjected, cutting off the hermit "The thought of you looking up someone my own age is a little much, even from you"

"Wha-" Jiriaya began to protest, but cut himself short this time "In any case. Got your own little trainee, or is it something else?"

"Get serious, Ero-Sennin" Naruto said without his former emotion of anger "I just… I see a lot of myself in her."

Jiraiya allowed silence to consume the watered training ground. Giving Naruto the time to truly understand why it was he was taking such an active interest. Was it because she had asked him for help?

No, that's not it.

If someone else had asked he would most likely have sent them through the more common channels. But not Hinata, the thought had never even crossed his mind at the time to even since. Why?

But the more thought he gave it the more apparent the answer became. How could he not help someone with whom he could relate so strongly? Alright, there were certain factors that from certain perspectives did indeed create an entire chapter of differences in their circumstances. Yet, even so, he saw the similarities, and in the end that was how he felt. Nothing else mattered.

"It seems you're already becoming a deep soul, Naruto" Jiraiya said, for once with seriousness. Naruto blinked back into reality, and gave his signature grin, one which Jiraiya had to smile in response to, but not for long

"But your Jutsu is still amateur!" He barked, destroying any moment Teacher and Pupil had been sharing.

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Hinata say looking out into the Academy's grounds. Her classmates were eating in the hall due to the rain. But Hinata seemed to find it oddly comforting today. Perhaps it was just the soothing sounds of it. Especially against her now often hectic schedule of training Naruto had her going through. It was hard, and greatly taxing. But without even thinking about it she wouldn't give it up for the world.

'_I wonder where he is right now…_' She thought to herself, causing her to pause with her head slightly angled, staring off absently. She allowed herself to ponder for a moment his daily life. He was a ninja, a fully fledged Ninja, whose strength was on the same ranking as Iruka-Sensei. She didn't recognise him as one of the ninja that took up village-related duties, which left outer-village work.

She was so immersed in thought she hadn't even noticed that Sasuke had taken up a position next to her. Leaning back, his hands behind him, supporting him as he himself looked out absently at the rain.

"The rain has a way of bringing back memories…. And thought." He said softly, almost dreamily. Hinata resisted to urge to flinch with surprise at her realisation of his presence. She looked at him, then followed his gaze into the rain.

"Y-Yes, I suppose it does." She agreed after a brief thought '_I was so lost in my thoughts I didn't even sense him? Even if, he even moves like a ninja already_' She thought. She sideways glanced at Sasuke. She was in no way like one of his 'avid supporters', but she still held respect for him. How could anyone at the same point in their 'ninja career' not? He was a genius, and he proved it every day. They sat there in silence until the bell rang. All the while Hinata wondering exactly what was causing the usual lone Uchiha to recently take to her. Normally he wanted nothing more than his own space, or so it seemed.

Sasuke on the other hand was wondering much the same thing. All he could really say for sure, was that she seemed different from anyone else. Boy or Girl. He felt something like 'akin' to her. Though for what reason he could not discern. It didn't even occur to him that she was the only one he could feel any sort of bond with at all.

Hinata continued to sit next to Sasuke, until the bell rang, signalling the time for them to return to the classroom.

After all his students assembled Iruka smiled toward his class

"Today I have a special treat for you all." He announced happily "For the rest of this afternoon we are going to take a break from our normal lessons to learn about ninja weapons" To which the class seemed somewhat perplexed over

"But Iruka-Sensei" Sakura asked aloud "We are already training with Shuriken and Kunai. And we've learnt about smoke bombs, explosive tags and uses of wires." Iruka sighed, forgetting how thoughtless his students could be when they didn't think first.

"Of course Sakura, I am the one who taught you those things. But a ninja's weapon list can extend beyond those, and even jutsu. For example I'm sure you've seen on rare occasion a shinobi wielding a sword. Though few carry them around unsealed" He explained. The class growing ever more excited by the minute at the prospect of 'sword play' seemed to be getting the idea. Iruka with some effort, settled them down and lead them into the in door hall, where none other than Naruto sat, before him an array of weapons, both simple and entirely strange.

The students fought to rush over to handle the weapons. But looked on with obvious wide-eyed excitement at the selection of assembled weapons. Hinata looked across them, from swords to maces, claws or whips there were more weapons than surely any one person could use.

"In battle it's not uncommon at all to use a weapon. While many Ninja rely solely on jutsu, and perhaps the basic ninja tools, more combat orientated find advantages in taking up weapons to gain the edge in close quarter combat." The class was only half listening. The male students particularly were nearly drooling at the weapon. Naruto sat with an amused expression at the clear excitement of the class.

"Some even carry unique and powerful abilities" Iruka continued, attempting to add a mysterious undertone to his voice.

"Unique Abilities?" Sasuke repeated "What do you mean?"

"Well, there are weapons that have been crafted in a special manner, either with seals, or special chakra procedures, that can produce 'effects' beyond a standard weapon" Iruka explained. "For example the second Hokage carried a lightning-chakra bladed weapon which was said to have to power to cut through ninjutsu" Sasuke rose an eyebrow, while the rest of the class shown themselves to be amazed in their own way.

"There was even a group known as the Seven Swordsmen who were said to weild swords that contained their own unique and frieghtening powers" Iruka pressed on, pleasing the sheer awe on his students faces.

"Though relying too much on a tool will be the downfall of any ninja who allows themselves to become dependant on it" Naruto spoke up from behind the group. Iruka looked up, surprised at first, he smiled and nodded.

"That's right any weapon you weild on the battleground can not only be lost or even destroyed, but turned against you. So it is important to bare that in mind when handling weapons, and even why many ninja store them in seals that can only be activated by their own chakra."

"How do seals work?" Sasuke, again asked. Iruka's smile faltered slightly at his keen interest.

"It's complicated" Naruto answered.

"Like what?" Sasuke pressed

"Very complicated" was all Naruto responded with, without giving any effort into answering. Sasuke, gritted his teeth slightly, a fact not unnoticed by Naruto, Hinata and Iruka in particular. He was already beginning to detest Naruto's behaviour towards him. It was so unlike how anyone else treated him since…

"Relax boys, that's not what today is about" Iruka said, cutting their conversation short. Iruka proceeded to explain the varying purposes of weapons. That while swords possessed the obvious advantage. Weapons like a whip though not possessing the same outright power, can be far more tricky to combat against, being not only faster and therefore difficult to dodge, but possessing more alternative uses. After various questions being asked about some of the weapons present, it was finally time for the students to try their hand at some. Though with strong supervision. Naruto, finally revealing the purpose for his presence, burst into a dozen copies. Each discussing with the students about which weapon type they wanted to use.

"Hey Hinata-san." He greeted cheerily "So, given any thought as to which weapon you would like to try?" He asked, looking at her with a look of genuine interest.

"Ano…"she began, looking over the various weapon types. To be honest, she had never really ever considered using anything other than her Gentle Fist. Why would she? Her attacks were so unconventional that it was difficult to imagine anyone with a resistance to them. But given greater thought it wasn't impossible for her to consider that given the Hyuuga clans power and reputation that it would have enemies, ones that would be adequately prepared. Which bought her down to the predicament that was; If faced with such an enemy, what would her plan be?

Swords, maces, flails, whips, what appeared to be a bladed-knuckle dusters, as well as claws, metal covered gloves, spears and more. Naruto, who had been working out her likely thoughts, chuckled.

"There's no worry Hinata, I'm not asking you to make a life choice. But is there any weapon of which you are curious? If you end up not liking, it, you can always try something else. In fact I would definitely advise you to try a few out anyway." he said thoughtfully looking over. She gave him a weak smile, and looked over them again.

"M-Maybe the spear?" she half-asked. Naruto gave her a reassuring nod and passed it to her. He guiding her towards using a broad stance, to most effectively support her balance so she could swing the weapon effectively using it's advantage of range. After doing a few moves Naruto advised she set the large weapon down, and took a moment to look about her.

Sasuke had chosen a sword, and was swinging it around with what she thought to be surprising skill. Perhaps he had already considered using a weapon? It wouldn't surprise her. He was likely to of considered something as seemingly obvious as this.

Ino was brandishing a whip, which the poor Naruto clone was having difficulty in keeping safe whilst protecting everyone else. Hinata resisted a chuckle at the scene. '_How very like Ino'_ she thought or at least from what she knew of her.

Kiba had chosen a flail, somewhat to Hinata's surprise. For some reason she had assumed he would be one of the ones itching to get his hands on a sword. Although from the looks of it, it might've been a wiser choice, as the Naruto clone had been destroyed preventing Kiba from knocking someone clean out from his wild and completely uncontrolled swinging of the weight at the end of the chain.

"Ano, Naruto-Sempai?" she asked, turning back to him. He looked back up to her from passing another weapon out for use.

"Is there a weapon which you use?" she asked, having only just wondered about it herself. Naruto seemed to stop to consider

"Not generally." He answered "I have what I suppose you could call proficiency with a number of weapons. But actually, I don't like using them if I can help it" he said thoughtfully. Hinata absorbed what he said, then nodded, realising that she sort of felt the same way. Perhaps it was her being naïve, but the Gentle Fist didn't seem as brutal. The thought of using a sword or spear brought about the idea of impaling someone, an idea that she found herself quickly trying to forget.

Naruto all the time during her inner turmoil was studying her. He smiled to himself, as he quickly recognised the fear within her. He was proud of her. Exactly like him she felt the fear of taking a life.

"You know" he began, so as to get her attention "I abhor the idea of taking a life. But there come times when I must take a life to defend one. That is what my weapons are for. They are designed to kill, but I'll only ever use them to protect."

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Hinata stopped, she was panting so hard she felt each breath cause her body to nearly double then half in size again and against. He was pushing her now. She could feel the strain as she hit her limit so many times within such a short space of time. She felt reminded that he was a Chuunin, that however much progress she made. No, even Sasuke made currently, their strength was worlds apart. She had been training with the Gentle Fist almost as long as she could stand. Her arts required the utmost precision and dexterity, yet Naruto seemed not only faster than her, but much more so in her own defining attributes. She had yet to even feel his strength yet.

She reset her stance. Naruto looked on with a impassive expression.

"You're tough, Hinata-san" He said, slowly lowering into one of his own "That's the way it should be!" He charged.

Byakugan activated she saw every move he made, the way his weight shifted to support the attacks he launched. She dodged the first, aiming to make a counter with a palm thrust, but as she did so he kicked off to the side. He seemed to have no difficulty curving his momentum at all. As he slide to the side his outstretched hand moved again to bat her head. She twisted back to avoid it, moving her arm up to strike his own in the process. She felt her fingers impact.

'_I-I got him?_' she thought amazed. In the next moment she corrected her stance, to see Naruto creating distance. As he came to a halt he observed his arm.

"You hit me" he commented, seemingly in somewhat of a disbelief "It wasn't an accurate strike, but non the less" he said looking up at her. His expression still unreadable, she couldn't tell if he was happy or angry. He flexed his hand, testing out it's movement.

"Slightly numb" He commented, his gaze returning to her. He grinned "Hyuuga Hinata. Well done indeed" he said simply. He turned on heel

"Come on, I'm going to fix up my arm, with any luck you could of done some damage there. Besides, you're exhausted." He said, before waiting for her to walk up to him before continuing.

"I'm sorry, Naruto-Sempai" Hinata said between her breaths as she did jogged up to him. He looked at her, almost surprised

"You're sorry? For doing well?" he play-mocked "Hinata, if you don't come at me seriously, what's the point of trying at all?" he said clearly amused by her embarrassment. He put a hand on her shoulder as they continued to walk.

"Don't sweat the small stuff Hinata. If it was a problem, I probably wouldn't be smiling about it, right?" He pointed out. She looked at him for reassurance before giving an uneasy nod. "Good to see it"

It wasn't long before they ascended up several flights of stairs to the place Naruto apparently called home. It wasn't any place special, but it at least looked like it was high enough to get some sort of a view of the village. He invited her in, for her to discover the kind of place her off-hours Sensei was living in.

It was almost the kind of thing she might've expected if she were to think about it. It was a rather simple looking place but dressed smartly. It was cleaner than she would've guessed, apparently Naruto liked to take care of his home. The furniture was small, but very cosy looking, shelves holding several photographs of both himself with others and places.

"I'll be back in a moment" he told her as he disappeared into another room.

She stood there awkwardly, wondering why she was even here all of a sudden. To keep the pressure of thought down she absently moved to the shelves to get a closer look at the photos. One was of Naruto and two other older ninja with an adult. Naruto was younger in this photo by about 3 or perhaps 4 years. The other two younger ninja she recognised as the two that often guarded the door. One of them wore a bandana forehead protector and the other with the bandage on his nose. But she couldn't recall their names. She assumed this was his genin team. It fit at least. As she moved around the room she found a curious item on shelves tucked away in the corner. Two long cases, one a marble white in colour, the other ebony.

"You noticed my heirlooms I see" Naruto said from behind her. Hinata nearly jumped out of her skin.

"Relax" he chuckled "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you"

"It's okay" she breathed, getting her breath back "I'm sorry too, I didn't mean to be nosey" She apologised with a slight bow. Naruto rose an eyebrow

"Geez, Hinata-san, you're making me feel bad by being so polite. Don't worry about any of that stuff. It's natural to display curiosity you know" he said feigning a scornful tone.

"I'm sor-"

"Oh shut up" he silenced her with a small laugh at the end. Hinata couldn't suppress a small smile of her own. "So, want to see them?" he said, running his fingers over the white box.

Hinata paused, unsure if it might be impolite to say yes, though truthfully she was pretty curious herself as to what these heirlooms were. Though she was also curious if that meant that he was alone…

Naruto unclasped the white box and opened it revealing a beautiful silver sword. The cloth on the handle was white as snow, with the rest of the blade, clearly taken excellent care of, remained silver in colour.

"It's beautiful" Hinata whispered. She knew nothing of swords, and truthfully she had little care to. But this was truly a piece of art more so than a weapon.

"It's called Feisu" he said "But, to be honest, these are rather shoddy heirlooms" Hinata looked at Naruto, taken completely by surprise he would say such a thing.

"What do you mean, Naruto-Sempai?" she asked, clearly shocked.

"I mean my parents never used either of these. They were gifts or something, but never used." He explained, Hinata could see the disappointment in his eyes. A rare occasion when she could truly read anything from him. She looked back at the rather masterful looking weapon. She could understand how even something so beautiful could be a disappointment. There was a brief silence, before Hinata decided to try and break it.

"Have you ever used them Naruto-Sempai?" she asked, Naruto looked at her with a grin

"Of course! There isn't a boy alive that hasn't done something uncharacteristic because it seemed cool at the time!" he said, causing Hinata to smile once more. It certainly seemed like a truthful thing.

"What's the other one like?" she asked. Naruto's expression dropped noticeably. He glanced over at the case, and paused. With apprehension he closed the white case, and touched the ebony.

"N-Naruto-Sempai, if it's -" She began

"It's fine" He interrupted "It's just kinda the opposite of Feisu. You'll see what I mean I guess" Like ripping off a bandage, Naruto quickly opened the case. Inside sat an Onyx sword, that looked more marble than metal. The curious thing was the blade itself. The blades of either side were connected not by the marble looking material, but rather a black chain, which separated the weapon from guard to tip where the two ends finally met. She could sense what he obviously disliked. This weapon actually felt like something. She couldn't honestly say it felt bad, or bloodthirsty. It was far ore subtle than that. It actually kind of felt sad.

Naruto closed the box abruptly.

"This sword is called Zetsubou" He said "And, to be honest. I care nothing for it" Hinata looked at Naruto. It took no effort to understand why. And with a Name like that, well, it was icing on the cake.

"Never used it, not in a battle anyway" he said, sliding the case back. "Anyway!" he said, bringing his usual energy back, clasping his hands together "The reason I bought you back here, Training, I want you to borrow this" He said producing a scroll. Hinata blinked, looking at the item he was holding out for her. Slowly she took it.

"Don't read it until at least tomorrow. I do no know how well you will benefit from it, Hinata-san. But perhaps it will be of value to you. I certainly hope so." He said, causing her to nod. Slowly, she turned to leave, wondering if that was her queue to do so. But as she reached the door he spoke out again.

"And Hinata-san. Do not allow anyone else to view the contents of that scroll. In side are my own personal training secrets. I entrust them to you, and to you alone"

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**Author Notes: **

For those interested Feisu translates roughly into Faith

Zetsubou translates roughly into Despair.

No you won't be seeing a sword-wielding Naruto, though there is a reason I have shown these, so keep an open mind.

I hope you enjoyed the returning chapter of Naruto Sempai


	9. Chapter 8: Naruto's Secret Training

**Author Notes: **I'm glad you all seem to like the new chapter. It's been so long since I had updated it I couldn't be sure if everything with entirely in sync with the previous chapters, so *phew* about that one.

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**Naruto Sempai: Chapter 8 – Naruto's Secret Training**

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It was all Hinata could do not to peek at the contents of the scroll Naruto had entrusted to her as she walked home. It felt like the most unnatural thing in the world as it sat in her hand, as though she had to investigate it.

'_His personal training secrets_' she repeated mentally. Just what did that even mean? Was she holding the very information that separated him from the academy class? Was that what he gave her? Or was it some secret ability he had developed in secret?

A thousand other questions whirred around in her head. All the while she had to resist looking at it. That was one of the two only things he had asked of her. He had _trusted_ her with it. She had to respect his wishes, even if it was the most tempting thing that had ever been put in front of her. She snuck a glance at her hand. There didn't seem anything special about the scroll itself. In fact it seemed kind of mundane. But of course it would be. No one would be likely to notice it if it looked like something common.

After what felt like hours, she finally made it home. And managed to set away the scroll into a drawer, where she planned to keep it out of sight for the rest of the night. Still before closing the draw, she found herself locked with an intense stare with the inanimate object. As though if she did so long enough she could absorb it's contents mentally, without breaking her promise.

"No" she whispered to herself, firmly closing the draw.

For the rest of the evening she found her vision flicker towards her room. All the while wondering what it was that was contained within it. She was so excited at the idea of finding out she found it was literally consuming all of her focus. She didn't even notice that the sun was still setting when she decided she was 'too tired' to stay up, much to the puzzlement of her sister. Inevitably she endured several hours of tossing and turning, trying to get to sleep. Every once in awhile she sat there, eyes wide open, pondering what answers awaited her in the morning. It wasn't until she began to reflect upon what she had accomplished so far, her body remembering how tired she was from which, that she managed to calm down enough to actually fall asleep.

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Hinata's eyes flickered open. The sounds the of birds chirping outside hadn't even started yet. She was about to permit herself to roll back over and claim more sleeping time before a single word grazed her mind

'_Scroll_'

In and instant she was sitting bolted upright. Her eyes fixed intently upon the draw which the 'artefact' rested. Slowly she got up, and moved towards it with the utmost care as not to make a sound, as though it would flee should she make one. Pulling the draw open, there it sat. She found herself paralyzed with excitement and nervousness. Despite her curiosity she found her body unresponsive, all the while the little voice in the back of her head chanting

'_Go on, go on, go on…_' Slowly she took the scroll. Her fingers practically trembling as she slowly opened it, revealing its contents. She began to read what was written, instructions that Naruto-Sempai seemingly detailed while in the process of either learning, or perhaps mastering the art himself.

After she finished reading it she lowered the scroll, allowing the idea to sink in. Her brow furrowed in slight confusion at the idea, her mind trying to put the pieces together.

"…Really?" was all she could comment.

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Naruto stood waiting for his apprentice to make her appearance. She was due to arrive any moment, and given her state when he last saw her, she would have memorised the scroll by now. It was just as he was supposing this did he hear the footsteps of her running to meet him. He turned to look at her with a small grin.

"So you can overcome a genjutsu of that level?" He asked, with a faint smile.

"Yes, Naruto-Sempai. My Byakugan have always been helpful against Genjutsu" Hinata answered.

"And you no longer have any problems with the clone jutsu?" Naruto quizzed

"No, not anymore" she answered with a smile of her own.

"That's good. Now, I next presume you have read the scroll I leant you?" he asked with a smirk.

"Yes, but I don't fully understand it, Naruto-Sempai" She confessed

"Don't worry about that. It'll come together as you develop into it. Trust me, does it sound like something I would do otherwise?" he asked cheekily. "In fact Don't answer that, but instead just trust me." He added, as an after thought. His expression changed, the smile lowered, but didn't disappear, as he brought up the seriousness.

"I won't lie Hinata, this training is not easy, and will be more physical taxing than our past training. I have raised your levels of Taijutsu, Genjutsu, Ninjutsu and ranged weaponry up to a passable standard. However the truth is I have also been watching Uchiha Sasuke. His Taijutsu is more advanced than we can likely reach in the time frame going at the rate we were. This is your best chance to best him lies in this training." Naruto paused.

"But of course, this particular typing of training is a different route to the one you have been following. Do you want to try this, or would you prefer to put faith in your old methods?" He asked.

Hinata couldn't answer back without giving it thought. Obviously, she knew her previous training. Though slow she also knew it was working. But she felt what Naruto-Sempai had said, that her progress of catching up in this matter could be too slow to reach Uchiha Sasuke in the remaining time. But then trying out something new like this was a gamble. But even so, her mind flickered back to the words that had captivated her at the time

'_My Personal Training Secrets_'

"Hinata" Naruto said, getting her attention "Let's get an Ichiraku's while you think about it, yeah?" He said with a grin. She smiled back and nodded.

'_Of course, Ichiraku's…_´she half laughed mentally. Even in the short time she had been around him, it had immediately become obvious he loved his Ramen perhaps a little too much. None the less, it was nice to have one once in awhile, she thought to herself. But she knew she couldn't stomach one nearly as often as he could.

"Naruto-Sempai?" She asked, after than had seated themselves. Naruto looked up, rather than verbally responding to her

"Is this training how you train currently?" Naruto glanced upward as though supposing.

"I guess so. I mean, I was using this predominantly during up until I became a Chuunin. Since then I've had to develop other styles. This style is great, but there are some things it cannot do. However, at this stage it should hold several advantages, as this styles weaknesses lie down a more advanced path, nothing any genin can pull. Even Sasuke" he explained. Hinata looked at the table in thought. It probably was worth doing this. Naruto had suggested it after all, adding on the weight of the feelings of his trusting her with it. How could she not?

"Then I think… I would like to try it" she said quietly. Naruto looked up from his newly arrived noodles, with a grin.

"Fantastic" he commented, "But please realise that this training however it might seem, will be more physically taxing than our previous training." He made sure the point out, his voice cautioning, but sounded more concerned than anything. He didn't assume she would take anything lightly, but even so.

"I will do my best, Naruto-Sempai" she replied, with a small smile. He grinned back at her.

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Hinata's hands were still shaking. In fact even her arms were, even her legs. Her using neat hand writing far more resembled Kiba's today. Which actually resembled a ink-spider hand crawled across a page. As little sense as that expression made, it seemed to come together nicely when she looked at her paper. She flexed her hand, feeling the burn. Perhaps she had been over doing it with her Gentle Fist training. She would have to train without releasing the chakra for a few days it seemed. While that made for very poor practice via comparison, if she wanted to stand a chance at recovering, it would just have to be like that,

"Problem?" Sasuke asked without looking at her. She blinked at him

"Ano, no, it's nothing. I-I just was pushing myself a bit hard last night" she explained. Deciding to leave out the details that her hands had felt like they had a severe case of the 'pin and needles' since she had woken up this morning. Just holding her pencil at this point was proving to me somewhat painful.

After a further pause, Sasuke returned to scribbling something down, apparently satisfied with her answer.

She went back to her own paper and began to finish off what she hadn't already finished. Naruto had been gone for nearly a week due to a mission. But fortunately he had left her with a strict and rigorous training schedule. His not being there did slow things down somewhat, however, the new training was proving difficult to adjust to, which made her wonder if his being there would truly have such an impact after all, even just thinking about it causing her sides to ache, and her legs to stiffen as though she'd just finished another session of training.

"You know you shouldn't push yourself too hard" Sasuke said absently, without stopping what he was writing "When you muscles aren't at 100% you are getting a reduced effect from any training you might do, since even if it feels like you're doing your best that's just the lactic acid, your limits aren't being reached and your muscles aren't being developed."

Hinata paused what she was doing, and could only sit there looking at him with a slightly confused expression.

"You didn't think I didn't notice did you?" He asked rhetorically.

'_Did he find out about Naruto?_' She inwardly gasped, almost horrified by the idea. More so because that would mean she had been lying to him about not knowing more. After all, it was Sasuke that reached out to her.

"I saw you training three nights this week." He commented. Hinata breathed a sigh of relief "You really push yourself, Hinata" He added on, quieter.

If she didn't know better she would of taken that as a 'Sasuke-compliment'. She smiled at his words.

"Thank you, Sasuke-kun" she said, with a slight bow of her head. He merely grunted.

"Just don't over do it, you won't improve enough to be an ally if you're levelling yourself to exhaustion"

For the second time in as many minutes, Hinata found herself rendered speechless. Sasuke rarely spoke. And when he did it was only about an objective, in her experience either ninja theory, or the mystery that was Uzumaki Naruto. But right now, he seemed to be speaking out of concern, even hinting that perhaps, just perhaps, on some level he was thinking of her as some sort of an equal. In the future albeit, but none the less. Sometimes, he seemed to go out of his way to over perform in their classes as though it was an attempt to distinctively yet silently claim no one in their class was his equal.

All of which made him completely out of character right now, at least to her mind. She was half tempted to poke him, to see if a genjutsu or transformation technique would be dispelled. But she thought better of it. Instead diverting her eyed away from him back to her own paper. But she was no longer writing. In her mind she couldn't help but think;

Exactly was what it that Sasuke was thinking?

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Deciding to take Sasuke up on his advice, if only partially. She reverted her training from her schedule, if only for the night, to use muscles she hadn't completely burnt out yet. So tonight she opted to practice her kunai and shuriken throwing, and would finish up with genjutsu theory. However boring she couldn't deny the only times she had felt this exhausted before were the two times Naruto had insisted upon her resting. So she inwardly concluded that Sasuke was probably right, and she wondered if Naruto would agree. She could take up the schedule again after one night. If she had any measure of luck it wouldn't throw her off completely.

'_8/10_' she thought to herself. She could do better than that. Of course she could. Her average had improved to about 80% up from mid sixties. But these targets weren't even hard. She couldn't keep missing like that anymore. Even beyond the genin exams. She had her own standards she felt she needed to reach. By being a Genin, meant you were a real ninja. The lowest rank was irrelevant. As a ninja of Konoha, no, as a ninja of the Hyuuga, she had to really reach for new heights. What was it Naruto said to her?

'_Warrior of the Hyuuga indeed_´ she smiled to herself. That was it. She recalled how happy that kind of praise made her. No one, not even her family had said such a thing. Of course the clan was one of elites, a standard she was a long away off. But, if Naruto said it, that was something she could believe in. She did it once, and that was a fluke. Now she needed to learn to summon those levels of skill at will.

'_9/10… I can do better!_'

She continued until the sun was starting to set before she head unfamiliar voices and laughter coming from behind her. Determined not to get distracted; she continued. But as she missed the laughter grew louder, it even seemed exaggerated. She refused to turn and look, though it felt the voices were directed at her. She threw again and missed, the laughter came again. She couldn't resist, but turn to see three people leaning against the building talking amongst themselves, but also clearly watching her. She didn't recognise any of them, but she decided it didn't matter and continued with her practice.

However everytime she missed, they seemed to find it funny and didn't hold the manners to keep quiet about it. Within minutes they began making disrespectful comments.

"Shouldn't you be in a kitchen?" one of them called out to her. She gritted her teeth, and threw again.

"Are you kidding? I wouldn't let that walking failure make me food! Geez, they sell her cooking in the poisons store, most toxic thing in there" They howled at their own comments. Their incessant comments and laughing was causing Hinata to miss more and more.

"Seriously, you couldn't hit water if you fell out of a boat. Is that really all Konoha ninja have? What a bad joke"

Hinata had to stop. However much her confidence had been improving she felt her resistances crumbling. But she didn't want to give them the satisfaction of seeing her cry. Just as she was about to hurried walk off, she heard the sound of a thud and a grunt

"What the hell" one of them said. She turned again, her vision had just started to blurr in her battle against her tears. But she could just make him out.

"S-Sasuke-kun?" she asked no one in nothing more than a whisper

"Well I hit you, though given the size of a the target perhaps I should try something I could actually miss." Sasuke shot, flicking up a stone, before catching it again.

"Why you little shi-"

"What are you clowns doing here, this is our turf, and you're not a part of us" Sasuke demanded, cutting clean through the larger genin words. The three snickered

"You don't even know?" One of them laughed. "Man, between 'Misses' over there, and captain clueless here, I don't think this will be anything at all to worry about"

Sasuke scanned them for some sign as to why they were here. All he could tell was they were Cloud ninja

"Look at him, looking for a clue. Idiot kid. Besides you know you're goibng to pay for that little stunt to defend your little 'girls' honour." He said pausing, glancing at Hinata "Least I assume that's a girl"

The three advanced toward Sasuke, who held his ground.

Hinata felt powerless but to watch as Sasuke was about to get attacked.

One of the three drew a kunai. Another swung his hand, extending a baton he had apparently been hiding.

"Wow, wow, wow" came a familiar voice. Hinata felt her heart skip a beat. The next thing she saw was Naruto drop down from seemingly no where.

"Jesus, these idiots are like roaches" one the Cloud ninja groaned. Naruto smiled, and carried on walking towards them

"What do _you_ want?" one of them spat

"Hey, can I just? I'm gonna just…" he said as he quickly but smoothly took the Kunai out of the boys hand. What was surprising was it wasn't by force, as though the boy half let him. "Thanks" Naruto beamed, tucking the blade away in his own pouch. All of a sudden the group reacted

"Hey! That's mine" the boy cried, snatching the baton off his allied, and making to swing with it. But before she even knew what was what, Naruto was holding that too

_Snap_

He broke it in half on his knee

"You could take an eye out with that!" he exclaimed in a half mockery, yet serious tone "Now you can't have the stick. Now YOU just wait!" he said, pointing to all three. Who were so dumbfounded they could only stare. "I'm Busy!"

He strolled up to Sasuke

"So, antagonising three genin ninja?" he asked, as though he was talking to an infant "Look, I'm all for defending honour. I like my honour. Why wouldn't I? And I praise you for helping out a friend, Uchiha-san. But pick your battles. You know, 'a ninja assesses a situation before…' yada yada. Now, go home" he said, his tone remaining casual filled with his usual energy until the last two words, which were unmistakably serious. Sasuke's own expression broke somewhat after being called 'Uchiha-san'. Like Hinata, he didn't expect to hear anything like that.

After a slight scowl, Sasuke complied.

"Hey you can't get away th-"

Naruto watched him leave before turning

"You were told to wait!" he said, point at them with the same wide eyes Iruka would give a naughty student, as he walked past. He smiled at Hinata, who at this point was standing in relative disbelief at the situation.

"Are you alright?" he asked, his concern clear. Not trusting her voice, due to the knot still in her throat she gave a stiff nod. He paused before nodding back "Alright, let's go somewhere"

"IF I might interrupt!" The large one called out, angrily. Naruto turned.

"Yes! Sorry fat-fella" he apologised

"Shut up!" He cried

"You broke my weapon! Who the hell do you think you are?"

"Hah, well that's the question" Naruto laughed, soaking in the irony that he asked the very question many people sought an answer to

"I am asking you who you are you god damn brat!"

"Oh, well that's just rude" Naruto said, as though he was genuinely disappointed. "No, now you don't' get an answer." He said turning to walk Hinata out

"You THINK we're going to let you walk away." One shouted

Naruto paused with a sigh. In the next instant there were a dozen clones, all shoo'ing and escorting the three ninja creating a commotion between the two parties. The original put an arm around Hinata and lead her in the opposite direction. As the commotion died away, Hinata felt Naruto give her should a slight squeeze

"Don't worry about them Hinata-chan. I'll see they get what's coming to them the proper way." He said without looking at her. "Let's get something to eat" he suggested

"I-Ichiraku's?" Hinata forced out, followed with a cheeky smile.

"Duh, what else is there?" Naruto teased, with a grin of his own.

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Sasuke couldn't move his mind from the scene. He had stayed in range until he saw the clones ushering the Cloud ninja away.

'_Uzumaki Naruto… Really? Who are you?_' he mentally asked, as he looked up into the darkening sky.

He was certain that was going to end in violence. By his own causing, he acknowledged, but it would have been worth it. Three of them; kicking some one down who was not only weaker than them, but who was trying to improve?

He couldn't stay calm at that. And he had often thought of himself as quiet a cooler tempered individual. Perhaps no one could.

'_Except Naruto_' he thought automatically. Sasuke gritted his teeth. Even now he wanted to kick those ninja's asses. By the looks of it, Naruto probably could.

'_So why didn't he!_'

He stopped in his tracks, and looked up at the sky.

'_Why is it in the world, the people with power cannot be trusted with it. While those without are doomed to suffer?_'

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"So I take it you've been following my schedule?" Naruto asked, before blowing on his steaming noodles. Hinata nodded.

"Everyday except today" she admitted, but before she could continue he spoke up first.

"Your body was in pretty bad shape then?" he asked, only glancing at her.

"Yes, like the times before when you insisted I took a break" she reasoned

"Good. Initiative. Hold on to that, it's an unfortunately rare trait" he commented in a weary expression.

"Hey, Naruto, you know you don't get the date discount anymore. I'm surprised you're still forcing her here all the time" Ayame said from behind the counter. Hinata's face began to glow. Naruto noted this, and chuckled. Apparently this one time 'fib' was going to haunt them.

"I know, but we're just so happy here. Right Hinata-Hime?" he teased.

_Smack_

"Oh… opps?" Naruto commented looked at the unconscious girl. After a pause he shrugged and pulled over her bowl, loading a few noodles with a cheery whistle.

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Author Notes:

Enjoy your Saturday my minions. Did I say minions? I mean readers!

So, Next episode I will be having Hinata ask a question to Naruto. So for those of you who have an idea for a question you have review to ask it. If not it will be my favourite out of the ones going currently!

P.S come ooonnnnnnnnn, I get so many Reviews AND PM's that just say something like

"Good stuff, Moar plux"

If you're going to bother you might want to have a little more to say? Just a ickle sprinkle of an opinion? Hmmmm?

Ja Ne!


	10. Chapter 9: Hinata's Question

**Author Notes: **I'm glad to see you are all enjoying this! =)

First, thank you all for all grammar and spelling pointing out. Okay, I clearly don't share Naruto's sharp learning curb, however everything you point out I am less likely to make said mistake again!

A few responses to clippings of reviews are:

To _Evilshroom_ who wrote

"_Your Hinata seems somewhat less capable than the canon one. Someone who was able to go toe-to-toe with Neji and stay up as long as she had in taijutsu-only combat is not someone who would have lost a taijutsu spar to Sakura, of all people, not but a year AT MOST earlier._"

Of course! Hinata was inspired from Naruto since the beginning of the Academy days having first met him when he saved her from bullies not long before they began attending. Without that positive influence around who had been there to show her she can change from being the 'weak' 'failure' she was told she was? There's your answer.

_EvilShroom_ also wrote

"_Sasuke himself isn't much of a bastard. I'm curious why- Hinata's decreased combat ability can be attributed to a lack of motivation with Naruto's absence in her Academy years. Sasuke's personality adjustment seems more out of convenience than reason. You wanted to write a likable Sasuke, so you did._"

Ripples is the answer. So Naruto wasn't in the academy. But what else does that mean? In regards to Sasuke in particular. I could be wrong, but I think that without Naruto around to be his rival, but also and more importantly his friend. Lord knows we see enough flash backs that as kids, Naruto and Sasuke met, though didn't appear to have a verbal relationship, they clearly regarded each other well, recognising each other with a smile. Without this sort of outlet, I imagine Sasuke to be at this time a little longing for a bond. I could provide more details, but this is a point in the right direction enough.

To _sasumiofjp_ who wrote:

"_how old are naruto and hinata in this fic?_"

The answer is currently; Twelve years old.

To Serena530 who wrote (a LOT, but here's a small section):

"_Question. Does Sasuke have his fangirls in here? I'm just wondering because I wondered if Sakura is all in love with him in here, and if she is if that will be problematic with him being on a team with Hinata? I mean problematic in that Sakura will be jealous of Hinata for getting to be around him all the time even though it would be clear that she would have no feelings for him. So maybe I'm thinking it'll be some kind of rival between the two girls. Of course we might learn all of this if you put her on the team as well, but i was thinking that they always make the team with 2 boys and 1 girl._"

While the fangirls in the actual Naruto series are not quite as…. Obsessive as they are in many fanfictions, it is shown that Sasuke is something of a heartthrob with the young ladies of Konoha. So, yes, sort of I suppose, he has 'fangirls'. I have my teams planned out already and they are set to 1 girl and 2 boys per team. I won't spoil who is with whom. Thank you for your review it's nice to see someone give this much feedback! =)

Finally a personal thank you to your impressively patient returning readers who are all writing me reviews and PM's about how happy you are this is continuing. It does mean a lot to think that people have remembering this fic for that long and still care to see it finished. And yes Chewie Cookies, there is a lot more than 'guts' written in that scroll!

Now, enough chin-wagging. It's Monday, I imagine many of you need a pick me up so that the week doesn't seem so gloomy. Here's hoping this does just that!

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**Naruto Sempai: Chapter 9 – Hinata's Question, Naruto's History**

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"Come on Hinata!" Naruto urged. "Stay on your toes"

Today had been the same as all her training sessions lately. She was breathing hard, and felt completely exhausted. She pushed herself back up. She couldn't stop now. There wasn't any time to waste on being tired. Time was slipping away and she had only begun to get the hang of this new training.

"Good, now, move with me" Naruto said, continuing the moves she had been trying to imitate for hours now. She was getting it slowly, but it was proving both tricky to keep focused on so many things at once, as well as entirely exhausting. She was aching is muscles she didn't even knew she had!

He hopped over his weight onto his left foot. As she tried to follow, she lost control and fell over. This time Naruto caught her.

"Alright" he said reassuringly "It seems you're too exhausted to continue for now" Hinata tried to push him away, and gain her own balance

"N-No, I can-" She tried

"That's enough, Hinata" He repeated easily, holding onto her. She sighed in defeat, and let herself fall back into Naruto.

"We still have all day, there's no sense in destroying yourself now" he said, pulling her arms around his shoulder, and lifting her up. He carried her to the streams edge.

"Just relax for a bit." He instructed "Here, eat something" he said, a clone coming into sight carrying a basket. Within the minute the clone had helpfully set up a small picnic area. Hinata had just been trying to catch her breath enough to even think about eating. She stood the time to look about their new training ground.

Due to the chuunin exams, most of the usual area's had been assigned to partaking genin, including the visiting teams. As such Naruto moved their training ground to a small area just outside Konoha. It was a wooded area with a few open areas, along side a small river, with a waterfall around the corner. When she had asked him, he told her this was a nice nostalgic place for him, and was where he met with his own Sensei whenever he was around. Hinata assumed that meant his Sensei, likely a jounin, was often away on missions, with Naruto back and forth also, it must've been harder to pick out times.

Naruto was glad she didn't ask. Explaining his current Sensei was a ninja who had somewhat left the village could be a delicate subject.

"I know it's not as ideal as the actual training grounds. But it's not that bad, right?" he asked, with a grin. Hinata gave a tired smile

"I don't mind it at all" she answered honestly "Actually I kind of like it" Naruto gave a nod in agreement, as he took a bite of some of the food he had prepared.

"Naruto-Sempai?" Hinata asked, after a minute's peace.

"Yeah?" he said, not looking up from picking off crumbs from his vest

"What do the chuunin exams consist of?" she asked, her mind having wondered back to the cloud ninja. Naruto looked up with a thoughtful frown.

"Well, you say consist of? By which you mean… what?" he asked, studying her as she thought about what she was asking.

"Well, I was wondering. Was there any special reason the cloud ninja come here to do it? And how does it differ from the genin exams?" she asked, looked back at Naruto with an expression of interest.

"Bit of a question then." He said with a smirk "Well it's like this. All countries ninja attend the same exam. They are graded together, and take the test together. There are multiple reasons, but it can be simplified down to hidden village relations." He explaining, pausing to make sure she understood so far. She nodded, so he continued.

"The test itself is broken down to 3 stages. A mental test, a physical test, and then the matches, though I suppose you know all about the final stage?" he asked, knowingly. Again, Hinata nodded, having been taken there with her father every time a Hyuuga had been participating. After it was apparent Naruto didn't have anything left to say she decided to ask another question.

"What were your exams like?" she asked, a curious smile forming on her lips. Naruto looked at her thoughtfully.

"Difficult would be the word. I took mine in Kirigakure, which I suppose I could only describe as interesting. And wet, obviously." He said, leaning back, and looking up at the cloudless sunny sky. "Mostly I wonder if I was lucky more than anything, I ended up passing the first time around all the while I never had much of an idea what I was really doing. Just put everything I knew into it and by the end of it someone apparently thought I should be a chuunin." He finish scratching his head. "Come to think of it, I only won my first match in the third part"

Hinata tilted her head in surprise. It hadn't occurred to her that he didn't win the tournament. Not that she thought you had to; the idea of only 1 possible chuunin promotion every 6 months would be silly, but even so. From everything of him she had seen so far, it was hard of her to imagine him losing.

Naruto thought back, closing his eyes and remembering that time. He gave it everything he had. They had to call the match because he wouldn't stop getting back up. He could even remember his frustration at the ruling. Even though now he saw he was just being a stubborn kid. Victory was just impossible. But he knew he'd do the same thing again. Never go back on your word. And he had the other promise to keep.

He felt the wind shift around him. He opened his eyes, to see Hinata lying back apparently soaking in her resting time. In that moment he came to a realisation. When the same time came, she would be the same. She had already proven a number of times that she's ready to break the rules when it came to her limits. Of course that wasn't always an admirable trait so much as a foolish one. But then… Who ever said there was anything wrong with being a fool?

"Naruto-Sempai?" She asked sitting back up from her position.

"Yes, Hinata-san?"

"I was wondering if I may, I would like to use one of those questions now" She asked, looking him with a level of seriousness, but also curiosity.

"Sure then, shoot" he said with a grin.

"How did you become so strong?" She asked. Naruto's grin persisted as he scratched the back of his head

"Well, I guess I should of seen that one coming" he admitted "It was a combination of things to be honest. First thing to know is that I lived with my god father when I was smaller. We moved around a lot and his… business involved spending time with others. In short, as cold as it sounds but he needed me to grow up a bit faster. But it wasn't bad or anything. He'd spend hours showing off all the things he could do because of chakra control and other things that it really built a strong drive for me to learn to do those things myself. What kid wouldn't work to walk on walls or to create as many play mates for themselves as they wanted?" he said, his eyes unfocused on the present entirely.

Hinata smiled at the idea of a little Naruto gasping in awe at the abilities of a ninja, and his expression as he tried to imitate them.

"So I guess you could say that as a kid I spent my time relentlessly trying to develop those sorts of skills. Apart from that all I can say is maybe I picked it up fast? Either that or I just spent more time on it than anyone else my age." He continued with a uncertainty "But of course being able to take care of myself also meant other things, like he taught me basic fighting moves, though I was incredibly unskilled" he said with a chuckle.

"By the time I got back to Konoha it would've been time for me to enrol. However given my development I guess special arrangements were made. As lame as it sounds, I'm sorry, but I don't recall the full details. After that it was just me. Ero-ahh, my godfather left, deciding that it was time I took my own path, however his place was not here" He said, coming to a pause. Hinata felt sad for Naruto at this point. He was all alone?

"Naruto-Sempai…" she whispered, wanting to say something. But words failed her. Naruto waved it off

"It's not all bad, despite what most people think. It gave me time to get settled in myself, without having to worry about that big per-" He caught himself "Without having to worry about anything else."

Hinata's saddened expression was unchanged. Despite his efforts to dress it up, it still sounded terribly lonely. Just a child to be left to look after himself… It was a thought she could barely stand.

"Anyway, with all that time, I could just focus on the important stuff. Getting down the stuff I was missing and progressing to being a genin. It wasn't even until I did that and was asked about my dreams and ambitions I wanted to make as a ninja did I really even think about what I was doing." He blinked, with a slight frown forming, he looked up at Hinata "To tell the truth, I really was just a kid playing ninja. But even a kid stops to think when you ask him what he wants to do with his life." His expression flickered back to one of happiness "Naturally, first thing out of my mouth was 'Hero'. That was my goal. After all, I was a nobody. No family, no friends, no one to recognise me at all. Heh, attention. Maybe I was developing all along for that very reason. If I mastered whatever he shown me, he'd have to take the time and show me something new…" He trailed off, his eyes revealing, only for a moment the innate emptiness. He looked back up to Hinata, and forced a smile.

"I think we're all the same there though. We all want to be recognised, especially by the people we look up to. Anyway, rest time is over, let's continue, Hinata-san" he instructed, pulling himself back up.

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Over a week had passed since Hinata had asked Naruto her first question. The answer it seemed had truly taken her by surprise. She found it constantly being at the front of her mind. Often playing back what he had told her over and over. From the single question a million more had been born. And yet, she could not bring herself to ask any. She found herself often drifting between the details of what he said.

One additional thing that she felt she had realised by asking the question was why he disliked answering them. It wasn't that it was private information as much as she initially had assumed, but that he was hiding feelings from the world. Maybe it was easier to pretend they didn't exist if his real emotions were undisturbed.

But knowing his loneliness made it that much more impossible to leave it be. She felt alone like that too, all the time. Her father had cast her aside when Hanabi had bested her. Her family was stern and distant. Emotions were weakness to a ninja, and where not to be shown. Of course, beneath the surface she could sense the deep reservoir of feeling. But even since mother had passed away… the surface had truly frozen over.

Maybe that was the reason he had taken her up as his apprentice of sorts. That he was simply lonely, and maybe he recognised that in her?

"Uchiha Sasuke" Iruka called out. Hinata snapped out of her thoughts to watch how Sasuke would perform. No doubt he would excel as he always did. Today they were testing out a more 'real' taijutsu test against Mizuki-Sensei.

As the test began Sasuke was immediately on the offensive, delivering lightning fast strikes, easily able to twist his body to rise the momentum of his strikes. And seemingly was freely about to control himself even whilst performing aerial attacks. Clearly Mizuki-Sensei had a tougher time dealing with him than any of the other students. Seeming to having to exert actual effort to avoid all of Sasuke's attacks

She smiled at the almost typical reactions of her fellow classmates. Many of the boys sat there dejectedly as Sasuke had clearly out done them, some even making comments at him. Whilst many of the girls were only staring and gasping at his abilities. Though Hinata could not deny, Uchiha Sasuke was impressive. His strength after all, was unequalled in their class in taijutsu, ninjutsu, genjutsu or shuriken techniques. But even with all that considered, she still didn't quite feel the same way as the other girls, not including the fact she wasn't actually attracted to the Uchiha. She sometimes wondered if it was because she held more respect for him as opposed to affection. Which at least might explain why she could respect him, yet not in the same manner as some of her classmates.

"Hyuuga Hinata" Iruka called out. She resisted the groan she felt on the inside. To follow Sasuke was always the worst time to do anything in front of anyone. She took her stance.

Upon the beginning of her test, she held her ground. Hyuuga arts didn't support a full frontal assault after all. Meaning that Mizuki came to her. She tried to dodge and evade his attacks as best as she could, blocking whenever she needed to.

"Good defences Hinata, but don't be afraid to go on the offence!" Iruka called out. Hinata gritted her teeth. That was easier said than done. Maybe it was against Sasuke Mizuki's blood got pumping, but he certainly felt faster and a whole long stronger than he had looked from the side lines!

During what felt like the onslaught of attacks she was barely managing to avoid she looked carefully. She watched his movement in the same way she had Naruto's when they trained. But it was no good, even when she felt like she could keep up with the speed, her stance was too rigid to be able to move inside her striking range. She blinked as she realised. Her new training practised just that!

Iruka had been about to call it when something unexpected happened. Hinata broken her stance and disengaged, leaping backward.

She remembered Naruto's words

'_Stay on your toes_´ She envisioned him before her, the way he seemingly floated on his feet. The way his body moved weightlessly. How he seemingly simply weaved out of her strikes.

'_What's with that stance?_' Sasuke thought with a furrowed brow. Hinata used juuken, a style he'd seen plenty before, which was still and very reactive. But Hinata wasn't in that stance. Instead her fists were clenched, and raised before her. As Mizuki made to strike her she bobbed to the left, seemingly bouncing to the left of the attack as she did so. As she regained footing Sasuke saw her swing her right arm towards Mizuki.

"Enough" Iruka called out. Hinata froze. She had nearly done it. In that moment her strike had been inches away. The look of surprise on Mizuki's face confirmed it. That attack would've actually hit. She slowly turned her head toward a silent class. Apparently they all had seen it.

Sasuke could only blink.

'Is that really _Hinata…?_' he thought in sheer disbelief.

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Author Notes:

A shorter chapter than I was aiming for, but I got in what I wanted, and I don't want to flesh it out more and risk anyway just for that.

The next chapter update will be Friday, however look out, because I'm aiming for a big one for the 10th chapter.

I am listening to your reviews, so please keep them coming and I will keep doing my best to appease the popular stuff!

I am also now on the lookout for a Beta Reader. Having just worked out how to find one, I feel I would have to search for a long long time to find someone I could work with. So if you either are a Beta reader, or know one that would be interested, please don't hesitate to contact me on it!

Until Next time!


	11. Chapter 10: Unhappy Endings

**Author Notes**: Welcome to the 10th Chapter of Naruto Sempai. I hold you have some delicious snack and drink available, because I want you to enjoy this as much as you can!

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**Naruto Sempai: Chapter 10 – Unhappy Endings**

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Hinata was barely able to guard. She whirled around in an attempt to block the attack with her Byakugan she saw coming, but was too slow. She found herself flying backwards. Naruto standing facing her, an open palm extended. With a painful thud Hinata crashed into the ground. She wasted no time in picking herself back up again, returning to her stance. Naruto mimicked it.

They had been training like this for hours now. Naruto was actually surprised she could last this long without a break. There weren't many ninja at all after all who could fight using their full strength for such extended periods of time. He resisted the smile he felt coming on. It shown not only endurance, but control of ones own energy and chakra. Even if such a trait was unlikely to help her to pass the Genin exams, it would help her as a kunoichi, and it would definitely help her in training.

Hinata decided to go on the offensive this time. Naruto moved back, dodging her attacks as they each came. He hadn't at all taken any steps to mastering this fighting style, but made up for it with superior speed and equal precision. Though he had no doubt that at some point soon her precision would surely surpass his own. In an instant Hinata kicked off towards him hard. He shot to the side to avoid the blow. Were she serious, the glancing blow she had just managed to land would have been sufficient.

"Integrating our training into your fighting so soon?" he questioned, with a grin. Hinata span around to face him, with a small satisfied smile of her own.

'_She was able to combine the Hyuuga style's highly offensive attack pattern with a perfect lunge… Interesting, Hyuuga Hinata. A high risk move, but surely a deciding one in an actual battle._´ he summarised mentally. Again Hinata took the offence, emboldened by her previous success. He continued to stick to dodging as opposed blocking. It would serve her better to try to hit him over getting past his guard. After all, when she became fast enough, her enemies would be too slow to guard. Even assuming they understood _how_ to guard against it.

Naruto could see her steadily working him into a corner. Was she going to lunge again? Suddenly she stopped. He paused, but then he sensed it too. Someone was coming. Hinata deactivated her Byakugan, but what Naruto noticed more was her apparent rise of discomfort. He turned to see a genin approaching them.

He instantly recognised this person as a Hyuuga. Approximately of their own age, perhaps one or two years older. He, unlike Hinata however strongly resembled what Naruto had come to think of as a 'typical Hyuuga'. Stern, cool and collected. Noting Hinata's discomfort he decided he would engage this Hyuuga him. He took a step towards the boy

"Hyuuga-san, you seem to be interrupting our training." He said, being careful to maintain appropriate respect. The boy seemed to look Naruto over before his eyes fixed on Hinata. Naruto frowned, if only for a fraction of a second before he caught himself. Something about how he was looking at Hinata didn't feel quite right.

"Apologies, Hinata-sama" he said giving a curt bow "But Hiashi-sama requests your immediate presence"

Naruto glanced at Hinata. This was out of his hands. Hinata only nodded at the boys words and took steps forward ahead of Naruto, before turning to him

"Th-thank you for today's training Naruto-Sempai" she said with a polite bow. Naruto smiled and nodded back, calculating the relationship out her and the boy out. As clearly there were conflicts present. He decided not to say anything back, given he didn't fully understand all the workings going on. Given that Hinata turned and left, not waiting for one, he took that as a sign he was right in doing so.

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Hinata could only follow Neji all the way back to the Hyuuga estate. Though she longed to simply train, she knew that there was no chance of Neji taking no for an answer, and she didn't want to provoke him further than her mere presence seemed to already.

'_At least by the feel of things it's nothing urgent_' she supposed, though immediately wondered if she would even be able to tell if something urgent to her father would at all influence how Neji dealt with it. Probably not.

Neji came to a halt outside her fathers private study and simply stood next to the door. Hinata resisted doing anything that might reveal her nerves and politely knocked. After a moments pause she heard her father from the other side.

"Enter" he instructed. She obediently slid the door open and stepped inside, closing it behind her. Her father gestured for her to sit before him, again she did as intrusted. She sat waiting for him patiently as she knew she must before he finally spoke.

"The genin exams are now only 2 months away" he said, his very voice ringing with authority "I trust the preparations for your exams are unhindered" he spoke more than he asked.

"Yes, f-father" she stammered. He didn't respond to it, but she knew what he thought of her stutter. Even with Naruto's help there were certain people that she just couldn't help it with.

"I see" he said, pausing. Hinata had to concentrate on not holding her breath "Your past progress reports at the academy revealed that you were expected to fail the exams. Are you saying this is no longer the case?" he asked. Hinata avoided with all of her will not to look away.

"Yes father" she repeated. There was another pause.

"While this pleases me, I will ask how it is you have changed this" It was Hinata's turn to pause. She couldn't tell why, but her mind flashed over the photo of Naruto on the store wall of people who were not welcome. She then realised she was keeping her father waiting.

"I have acquired the help of a tutor, father" she said as evenly toned as she could.

"A tutor you say?" he asked "Are they a classmate of yours?" he asked. Hinata could sense that if that were the case he would not be pleased. The idea of a Hyuuga taking help from someone supposedly at least their equal would not be well received.

"N-No father. He is a Chuunin who has assisted Iruka-Sensei" she explained. But Hiashi's expression narrowed.

"Are you referring to Uzumaki Naruto?" He asked, his voice lined with what she could only conclude was concern.

"Y-Yes father" she answered. Now somewhat confused as to how her father knew Naruto. He closed his eyes and breathed a heavy sign

"Hyuuga Hinata. You may no longer receive training from Uzumaki Naruto" Hinata's world shattered. She was about to blurt out a 'why' before she got the better of herself and held strong. But that didn't go unseen by Hiashi

"You have my instructions" he finished. With that, Hinata she knew she was free to go. But at the same she was back to where she was weeks ago. Completely trapped, with no visible escape. She rose and left the room, walking right past Neji, and headed directly for her own room. She wouldn't let them see her '_weakness_'.

Safely behind her door, she leant against it, at the same time she let herself fall, both literally and mentally. She felt the tight knot in her throat to squeeze as the tears rolled down her cheeks. She held her knees up and rested her head on them. Why did this have to happen? This was her chance to get strong. Her chance to escape falling into the same pattern of her entire life; Failure. She had so many hopes resting on it.

But most importantly; she knew she wouldn't be able to spend time with Naruto anymore. That thought somehow made her cry harder.

Just when finally she was starting to feel as though she _wasn't_ alone. The someone did care. Not just for her success, but for her. She found herself torturing herself by thinking of all the times they had gone for Ichiraku's ramen. How Naruto would always ask how she was, how he day was going. Even such simple things meant everything when that was all you had.

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The following day Hinata kept entirely to herself, spending all of her time staring blankly at her academy books in a feeble attempt to distract herself from her reality. As expected it wasn't working in the least. Instead she found herself envisioning the conversation she would have to have with Naruto over and over. The answer to her question never far from her mind.

Last night she had cried because of her own loneliness. Today she found herself crying over what she knew Naruto would have to return to.

So there she sat, staring at the page whilst comparing their solitudes.

Hers was being surrounded by people with whom you could never connect to.

His was being totally alone, the only interaction with his fellow Ninja and potentially clients.

How could we be so surrounded by people, yet at the exact same time be so alone? It didn't make any sense!

With a heavy sigh she closed the book, turning to look out of the window.

'_What is the world's problem with you Naruto-Sempai_' she thought '_Maybe that is the question I should of asked? But it would be so personal…_' She scanned her mind, trying desperately to work it out. She had spent a fair amount of time with him, one would of assumed that anything big enough that every adult seemed to know about could be worked out from her time.

But she came to no conclusions she felt were at all accurate. Anything she could think of that would have both shop owners as well as her father on less-than-neutral terms she couldn't think to be within Naruto's character.

He had shown uncouth behaviour, especially towards Sasuke. However nothing on the scale where her father would rather her fail than to be around him, or be taught by him.

It was a complete mystery. She even wondered about speaking to Sasuke about it. Wondering if perhaps he had discovered if Naruto was disliked, but more importantly why. But she knew she couldn't without raising questions she didn't want to answer. Sasuke had just started speaking to her, and being nice. She didn't want to jeopardise that in anyway.

She felt also forced to realise that even supposing she discovered the problem, there was no guarantee she could do anything about it. It was actually highly unlikely she could.

There was a tap at the door.

"Y-Yes?" Hinata answered, trying to pull herself together if only for a moment. The door slid open to reveal Neji.

"Hiashi-sama wishes to inform you that dinner will be served shortly" he said coolly.

"O-Okay, thank you, Neji-niisan" she said politely. He nodded and reached up to close the door but paused, his arm still extended. His eyes flickered back to her.

"Perhaps you would wish to regroup before attending, Hinata-sama" he said then closing the door.

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Unfortunately for Hinata time stood still for no one. She glanced at the clock above Iruka sensei knowing that now in under an hour she would have to explain to Naruto that her father was denying her permission to train with him. She folded her arms on her desk and sank in her seat, allowing her face to be buried in her arms.

Sasuke noticed this and frowned slightly.

'_Even now I am completely unprepared_' she thought to herself in despair. '_How could I possibly-_'

"Hinata, are you alright?" Sasuke asked quietly. Hinata didn't even have the energy to respond as she knew she should. Instead just groaning in her seat. Sasuke blinked. After it was clear she wasn't going to say anything his frown softened.

"If you want to talk…" he began, but trailed off. Even when he tried he couldn't quite bring himself to say it. But she knew, right? So long as she knew that was fine. Suddenly she rolled her head to look at him. Sasuke found himself again surprised. All of these things seemed very uncharacteristic, or at least for what he already knew of her.

"Say, Sasuke-kun" she began, but stopped to think, her eyes shifting towards the desk, before coming back to him "Did you ever find anything out about Naruto-Sempai?"

'_Sempai…?_' he inwardly mused. But dismissed it, instead sighing at her question.

"Not much." He admitted "Despite my pushing, people just don't seem to know anything about him. Or, more unusual; they claim they cannot speak of him" Hinata slowly sat up in her seat

"Cannot speak of him?" she repeated, confusion evident. Sasuke nodded

"I don't understand it either. But none of them were about to tell me at any point, so I'm guessing it's a mystery we'll never solve." He paused "Is this in anyway related to how you're feeling?"

Hinata re-slumped in her arms.

"No… I guess not. Sorry to bother you Sasuke-kun" she apologised wearily. Sasuke frowned, she was certainly being strange today.

'_Perhaps she had been trying to distract herself from it by talking about Naruto?_' he supposed. He turned back to his own work, realising if that was the case, and she wasn't talking about it, it would be something better left alone.

The remainder of the hour seemed to pass by far too quickly for Hinata. Before she was even fully away of it she found herself on her way to Ichiraku's ramen. The place had become something of a meeting point for the pair.

"Hinata!" a voice she had been dreading called from behind her. She turned to see the familiar blonde running toward her. She absently looked down.

"Ready to get to work? We have a lot of catching up to do for…" he paused, noticing her expression. Whatever she was about to say wasn't going to be good news.

"Hinata-san, are you alright?" he asked, leaning forward as though he was trying to get under her gaze. She looked up, her eyes already watery.

"N-Naruto-sempai?" she swallowed "M-My fa-father…" she began, but Naruto hushed her gently with a raised hand, already knowing exactly what she was about to say. He stood then with his hand still raised nodding thoughtfully.

"I see" was all he could say "I hope I did a good enough job with you, Hinata-san" he said with a weak smile. She could tell it was forced "You will become a fine Kunoichi, just as you did student." He said, just as a drop fell down her face

'…_and friend_' he added mentally, but dare not aloud. It would only add needless pain. He was already wishing he didn't even think it.

"Don't cry, Hinata" he said softy, raising his hand up to brush the tear away, causing her to snap her head up to him, a faint rosy colour on her cheek.

"We will still see each other." He assured, forcing his smile larger. Hinata tried a brave smile of her own. Naruto grinned, putting his hand on her shoulder.

"Now, you have training to do. Be sure you pass Hinata-san. Because I look forward to working with you"

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Naruto found himself more irritable in the days following. Finding that things that he would normally brush off he caught himself thinking things normally he knew he never would. Whenever inconveniences occurred he found himself letting loose a curse before he could catch himself. Even in his own training did he feel more agitated. To the point where in his last spar again his tajuu kage bunshin no jutsu he even had used _that_ ability.

"Gahh, What's wrong with me?" he muttered to himself.

"Problem?" a familiar voice came from his left. Naruto glanced to his left to confirm the identity of the voice.

"I don't even know" he almost laughed. Kakashi looked at Naruto through his usual half-open eye.

"Then what _is_ wrong with you?" he asked leaning his elbows on the table, cupping them together. Naruto looked back at his untouched ramen.

"Well for starters I don't even feel like eating that!" he ranted. Kakashi resisted a smile

"Well then that is serious" he half joked. But in truth Kakashi hadn't actually known a problem that could get between Naruto and ramen.

"Well what has changed between now and when you were not… 'wrong'?" Kakashi asked, emphasising the final word. Naruto grunted and scratching his head as though it might fall out of his hair.

"Nothing!" he whined, but stopped for a moment. "Except…" Kakashi was all ears

"Well, I stopped training Hinata" he mused aloud, as though it was the first time he had even considered it. Kakashi on the other hand was surprised that even Naruto could be that dense.

"Is that the first time you've even considered that?" he asked, almost in disbelief. Naruto just frowned as a response.

"…I don't know, I just…"

Kakashi let out a sigh, and looked upward in one of his rarer moment of thought.

"Did you enjoy training with her?" he asked, already knowing what was to come.

"Yeah, of course I did. It was nice to finally be with someone as dedicated as I am!" Naruto replied almost snappishly "She was a good sport with some of my jokes too." He said smiling fondly of the memory of making her faint for the first time.

"She was my friend" He said after a moments notice.

Kakashi allow himself a small smile at the thought. Given his age and rank, most people assumed he would be a snobby child. Others saw him in a different light regardless. But Naruto never really had friends. Just sensei's and subordinates. There was no one his equal of the same age, that much was a given. And even his own genin team he had grown more distant than most with. He was only a replacement for their former member who had passed before them anyway, however, even so he did manage to become friends. Staying friends with people with such an age gap while so young was a large obstacle to overcome. Perhaps too large.

But then something Kakashi did not expect happened. Naruto wiped his eyes.

"Naruto…?" he questioned. Naruto just looked up at him with his usual grin

"Something in my eye" he said. Kakashi looked forward again, and the two sat in silence with Naruto's ramen slowly getting cooler by the minute.

"This is a first" Kakashi mused out loud. Naruto, who had been staring into the abyss, jerked back into reality.

"You mean the ramen?" Naruto suggested. Kakashi shook his head

"Yes, but that's not what I'm talking about" he answered "I've never seen you not fight your problems head on. You're probably the only person I can say that for. Or you used to be anyway…" Naruto opened his mouth to protest angrily but stopped, instead directing his attention behind them. Kakashi was half tempted to turn himself to see if there was someone there.

"You're right Kakashi-sensei." He snickered with a grin "You're exactly right"

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As the week continued Hinata found herself falling back into the place she had been before she had found Naruto. She and tried to keep up with his training schedule. She had even seen him come to watch her sometimes, which only inspired her further. But without the pointers, and the way he pushed her to her limit every time in spars she didn't feel as though she want moving at all anymore.

It was as though without his immediate coaching her entire development became stagnant.

Though Sasuke seemed to only become more open with her, at the same time he had never felt so far away, especially when she saw him during their physical tests. His strength seemed unreal. She could barely seem to keep up with him with her eyes; she had no doubt her body could not.

All the while she could never seem to distract herself from the absence of Naruto. It gnawed at her night and day. She didn't feel it ease with time either. In fact she felt herself go quite the opposite. Each day it felt like more of a burden, as though her mind was deteriorating as quickly as she felt her skills were.

'_I wonder how he's doing_´ she thought on her way home from the academy. She nearly walked into the person standing waiting for her. She fortunately noticed just in time.

"Oh, Neji-niisan" she gasped, backing up "I'm sorry, I was distracted" he apologised with a bow.

"Hiashi-sama has been waiting for you. He wishes to speak with you immediately" he said, ignoring her apology. Again Neji lead her to her fathers study. As she was invited in she comforted herself by reminding herself that there wasn't much else that she could worry about.

She took her seat and again waiting patiently for her father to talk. This time she noted he was looking at her with an expression which wasn't fully suppressed by the Hyuuga mask. But it was so faint she couldn't read it. She had only hoped it was not anger.

"Tell me of your training recently" He spoke, his voice not affected by whatever emotion he could not control visually, which only made Hinata more intrigued.

"It has not been progressing as well as in times past, father" she answered truthfully. Hiashi closed his eyes and bow his head

"I see." He said, regaining his composure. "Perhaps this will be of interest to you then" he said producing a scroll. He offered it to her. She gingerly took it, then opened it and read its contents.

_Dear Hyuuga Hiashi-sama_

_It has come to my attention that my former student Hyuuga Hinata-san has begun to suffer from not receiving the additional help I provided. Due to this I would like to urge you to reconsider and allow me to once again train her. _

_Uzumaki Naruto_

Hinata looked up at her father surprised.

"I did not accept" he said, answering her unspoken question. She resisted her inward deflation.

"So it seems young Uzumaki wishes to challenge me to the right to train you" he said, the emotion she saw before rising through the mask once again.

"Wh-What?" Hinata gasped. Hiashi closed his eyes, again trying to regain his proper composure

"Indeed" Hiashi spoke, his voice torn by several tones all being suppressed.

"However much of a nuicense as this may be, the fact of the matter is that I have been challenged, Hinata" he informed her "He is due to arrive tonight"

Hinata could only sit there, using every once of her own will power not to express any of the emotions that were bubbling up inside her. Hope, fear, joy, concern, excitement, anger, as well as many more.

"Hiashi-sama" a voice came from behind the door.

"What is it, Neji?" Hiashi responded. The door slide open.

"Uzumaki Naruto has arrived, claiming he has an appointment" Neji said with a respectful bow.

Hinata's blood ran cold. She turned to look at her father who seemed unfazed by the news.

"And so it is. I shall return with you." He said standing "Come Hinata, as this concerns you most of all."

Moments later she came face to face with Naruto once again.

"Greetings, Hyuuga Hiashi-sama" Naruto greeted with a low bow. He then turned to Hinata, and his expression softened into one of a warm smile

"Greetings, Hyuuga Hinata-san" he greeted, again giving a low bow.

"Good evening Uzumaki Naruto" Hiashi responded sternly "Am I to understand you are here to make good on your challenge to me?" he asked. Neji's eyes went wide.

"Yes, Hyuuga Hiashi-sama" Naruto replied, his expression solidifying. Hiashi sighed.

"So be it, Uzumaki Naruto." He gestured to the open courtyard "If you please" Naruto nodded, and took his own place, Hiashi standing opposite. Hinata held her hands up, nervously twiddling her fingers, her heart beating ever faster.

She didn't know what to think. One the one hand she could not believe Naruto had challenged her father! The very though she found horrifying.

But at the same time she found herself happy about it. Not that in anyway she wanted him to fight her father, but that he was standing up to him. He had the courage to say no! And in the end, it was all for her. When that thought entered her mind she felt her cheeks heat up.

Hiashi lowered into his stance.

"Whenever you are ready Uzumaki Naruto" he called out coolly. Neji leant forward, clearly absorbed into the event unfolding before him.

"Kage bunshin no jutsu" Naruto said, performing his signature seal. Several clones appeared around him. Hinata leant forward, eager to see exactly what Naruto was going to try.

The clones shot forward, at speeds greater even than Sasuke. Hinata watches as her father defeated their attempted surround attack pattern without difficulty. This would be her first time watching him take on a serious opponent too. Not that should could bring herself to admit it, but she was curious to see what both of them could do.

More clones appeared. This time a lot more.

Hiashi was mildly impressed. He knew this ability was taxing upon the reserves, but it had barely affected what he assumed to be the originals pool. He was told stories of the boy the suggested it was no fluke that raised him to chuunin level. Perhaps he could test that out first hand now.

He easily defeated their attack patterns. Gliding between them, his superior range, speed and skill were resulting in an enemy far beyond the clones capability.

All the while Naruto merely stood there a secret smile upon his face as he absorbed all the information his clones were providing him.

"This is pointless, Uzumaki Naruto" Hiashi called out "Kaiten!" In an instant the courtyard was cleared of all but a few clones, and the original Naruto himself. As the final clones that attacked were then destroyed, Naruto got into his own combat stance. After a brief pause, both Hiashi and Naruto leapt at each other.

Hiashi shot forward a palm, Naruto deflected it, Hiashi twisted to strike with his other, forcing around to cross his arm to deflect it with his other arm. As he did so Hiashi's first strike soared up, from it's deflection, Naruto barely hand time to move his hands.

He took a step back.

'_A glancing blow was that effective?_´ he asked himself mentally. He looked up to see Hiashi in his stance once more. '_I know what you're thinking_' he smirked. Hiashi attacked. This time Naruto stayed on the defensive, prioritising dodging whenever possible, blocking whenever he could.

It seemed to be working, but at the cost of any attack at all. Like he expected Hiashi was far faster than he was. He could not even hope to win this fight unless he started using something else.

Hinata was thinking similar thoughts. Though missing every occasional moment she was aware that even in just the short time that had elapsed, Naruto was no match for her Father.

Neji who had been standing silently grunted and walked away, apparently confident he knew the outcome.

Naruto took a direct hit, resulting in him falling to the floor.

"Your bravery was admirable Uzumaki Naruto, but you lack the strength to defeat me" Hiashi said dismissively

"I know" Naruto said, weakly, but rising "I know you're far stronger than I am" He attacked immediately after saying so. Hiashi hesitated putting him down the second time, allowing Naruto to stay on his feet longer than he should of. But again, Naruto found the floor. Hinata looked away, unable to bear the sight of Naruto taking a beating for her.

He struggled for a moment, before rising again.

"Uzumaki Naruto, you are defeated" Hiashi repeated. Naruto just smiled.

"The only time I ever lose, is when I stop giving up" Hiashi blinked at the boys naivety. In a quick strike, Naruto was slammed back into the ground. He didn't move after that.

"Naruto-Sempai…" Hinata whispered, gripping her own hand tightly. Hiashi sighed, before turning away.

"N-Not done… Yet" Naruto breathed, loud enough for Hiashi to hear him. The Hyuuga head looked shocked to say the least.

"Uzumaki Naruto, I admire your persistence, but you have lost" Hiashi insisted. Hinata couldn't help but notice at the absence of anger in his voice. He was _not_ that patient with her.

"Still… Standing aren't I?" Naruto said with a grin, as he struggled to his feet again. Hiashi paused.

"You won't stop until I kill you, will you?" Hiashi concluded.

"I expected… nothing less… from a man… of your… intellect" Naruto said, through painful breaths. Hiashi nodded, and paused in thought.

"Then you leave me with no choice Uzumaki Naruto" Hiashi said regretfully.

Hinata's eyes went wide in horror.

"I forfeit"

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**Author Notes**: Another chapter done! I hope you all enjoyed it, and have a great Friday!


	12. Chapter 11: Pride and Purpose

Author Notes: Welcome one and all to the next chapter! But first some responses to questions the following chapter will not answer (well, hopefully).

To _forbiddenluv4Naruto_ who wrote:

'_What happened to Naruto's awesome strength and chuunin-ness? I wanted him to at least fight back, even if it's a little... I'm really looking forward to a fight scene where Naruto's true strength becomes apparent!_'

It's there, he just worked out that he didn't need it yet. Trust me; I am already trying to plan out his first fight. My full intention is that when it comes; I will leave no one disappointed!

To _Hypothetical Spiritual Entity_ who wrote:

'_Cliffhanger! Hiashi forfieted? I didn't see that one coming. Great chapter, keep it up!_'

Hah. Well consider this. I was contemplating not putting in that last line! In the end I decided that were it I reading it. That would be a cliff-hanger a bit too… hangy(?)

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**Naruto Sempai: Chapter 11 – Pride and Purpose**

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'_Why?_' had been the one consistent thought in Hinata's head since the moment her father, the proud and powerful Hyuuga Hiashi had surrendered a fight which he clearly dominated. Why did he surrender? She had always assumed that he never would. No matter the circumstances. But back then, of all times?

She didn't dare bring herself to question it out loud for fear that it would awaken some sort of logic and cause him to change his mind. This was after all one of the few times his giving up could have been so ideal.

She shuffled in her seat outside Naruto's room. After his 'victory' he had been taken to the hospital. Despite the brave face he had put on, the truth was he had taken a lot of damage. The instant Hiashi had forfeited Naruto's strength collapsed, his body with it. Hiashi saw to it he was properly taken care of, given the fact he was now Hinata's teacher once more. The thought alone caused Hinata to burst with positive energy, in the form of a smile that felt too big for her face. She buried her face into her raised hands, to avoid looking like some crazy person to the people moving past her. Though she was delighted, she still had questions. She glanced at the door behind which Naruto was being treated.

'_Was it willpower alone that had been keeping him up?_' she wondered silently to herself. She had been sitting here for several minutes, waiting for his exam to be over so she could speak to him. The way he dropped instantly the moment he'd won…

"Hyuuga-san" a soft voice came. Hinata looked back up to find a nurse from the now opened door talking to her

"Uzumaki-san is ready for visitors if you want to talk to him" she smiled, holding the door open for her. Hinata quickly thanked the nurse, and stepped inside.

Naruto was already looking at her with a brilliant smile on his face.

"Hey, Hinata-chan" he called out merrily.

"Naruto-Sempai" she responded with a smile "Are you alright?" she asked, approaching the bed where he lay.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'll be better soon as we can get back to our dates at Ichiraku's" he grinned. Hinata flushed, her mouth opening in a mixture of surprise and embarrassment

"Oh, right, and in between I guess we can go training" he laughed with a wink. Hinata could only focus on fighting the heat in her cheeks.

Naruto winced suddenly, looking down at his body he rested a hand on one of the bandages on his stomach.

"Are you sure you're alright, Naruto-sempai?" Hinata asked, her expression full of concern. Being taught in great detail of the damage of the attacks her bloodline could inflict, she was surprised he seemed to take so little damage. And from her father no less.

"I'll be fine" he said with a returning smile "Nothing that a good night's rest and a bowl of ramen won't fix!" He finished with a thumb up. Hinata smiled, glad that he wasn't seriously hurt she found herself remembering the questions that had been plaguing her before.

"Um, Naruto-Sempai?" she asked, her fingers fidgeting absently. "Why do you think Father forfeited?" Naruto's smile lowered, his gaze looking at the end of his bed in thought.

"Hinata-san. Do you know what they say about skilled shinobi?" He asked, thoughtfully turning back to her. Hinata slowly shook her head.

"They say that when two skilled shinobi fight they can read each others thoughts. Or along the lines of anyway…" Hinata blinked, leaning forward to find out what her father had been thinking at the time.

"When by clones where destroyed in battle, they weren't destroyed by ferocity. Neither had there been anger behind the attacks. Though the 'Hyuuga mask' is renown for making you difficult to read, it didn't hide what I felt." He paused and looked at Hinata.

"You saw it too, didn't you?" he asked knowingly "Even if it was just for a moment, something was pushing against his normal icy façade, right?"

Hinata thought back to when she was in his study. There was definitely something off about his expression. He even had to close his eyes to control himself, a habit she rarely witnessed.

"Yes. Back in his study, I noticed something off about him then. But it was too weak for me to really see what it was." Naruto nodded thoughtfully.

"What I felt was sadness, Hinata" Naruto said with a sigh. Hinata froze.

'_Sadness?_' she mentally repeated.

"Your father is a powerful man, Hinata-chan. A jounin level ninja, he's the Head of the entire Hyuuga clan, presumably the strongest. There's no doubt in my mind that if he was serious about defeating me, it would have been instantaneous." Hinata frowned.

"But Naruto-sempai" she began "You challenged him. Doesn't that mean that he had to defeat you for the honour of the Hyuuga clan, and his own pride…" she trailed off. Though she understood her father, she had yet to truly grasp the nature of such things. Naruto smiled, and shook his head.

"I think in surrendering that was exactly what he was doing." Hinata was beginning to feel lost in their conversation. Naruto, noticing her expression continued to explain.

"There are many factors at play here Hinata-san that I regret to say, I cannot tell you. I have my own history, which you will no doubt find out one day. But for now let me explain that there are political difficulties in dealing with me. When your father found out you were training with me that would naturally put him in a position. One made an especially difficult one given the factor that you were improving with my help." He explained.

"When he forbade you from doing so further, I have no doubt he could feel your emotions. Despite how cold a person can seem sometimes, we can never truly know a persons heart. Ninja even train to hide such things as it can be a weakness in battle. I suspect he shared your emotions. You are his daughter after all, Hinata-chan. Like any father he wants you to be successful and happy. In his case he had other obligations to see to, ones that he will often prioritise. But that doesn't change how he can be affected. When I issued my challenge, of course he had to accept it. Due to the uncouth nature of such a thing, it is a very rare occasion thus forcing him to accept it. In doing so he was given his own choice. Winning in always one, or he could have thrown the fight. Of course I never would imagine him to let me beat him, but if I would not lose unless he killed me then the choice becomes truly his own. Giving up and putting it down to the ramifications of killing the Jin-ahem, a chuunin of the village was one option." He explained, coughing to cover up his near mishap.

Hinata merely stood there, trying to piece together everything that Naruto had explained. She often felt emotionally bruised by her father. She had even wondered if one day he might abandon her, or worse. When she thought about that it was hard to believe what Naruto was saying.

"But what was his other choice?" She asked, verbalising her thoughts. Naruto smiled at her

"Though I cannot say I was honestly taking the match entirely seriously either. There is no doubt that Hiashi would certainly be capable of rendering me unconscious, thus claiming victory without killing me in a manner from which I could not stand back up. That was the choice I counted on him choosing not to take" Naruto finished.

There was only silence. Hinata could only stare off into the beyond as she tried to fit what Naruto was saying into her own reality. But it was hard to do. So much had been said that could never be unsaid.

Naruto observed Hinata's reaction to his news without expression. He couldn't know what she would be feeling. The best he could do was to be here for her should she need a friend, or even just a distraction.

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Hinata once again found herself panting heavily from Naruto's harsh training. But she couldn't stop smiling. It was good to be back doing something from which she felt herself moving forward from.

"You kept training I see" Naruto grinned. Hinata only nodded, having no breath to spare the words

"Still, less than two months away you know. We need to step up our game" Naruto said, folding his arms.

"How are we going to do that, Naruto Sempai?" she breathed in between her panting. Naruto looked up.

"Well, your father gave me an idea actually" he mentioned "Have you thought about your nindo?" Hinata frowned slightly, before shaking her head.

"Well perhaps now is a good time to start. Once you become a Ninja you will need to develop your own nindo. It will help carry you through trying times, and complete tasks which can challenge you both physically, mentally even morally." Hinata nodded, understanding where Naruto was coming from. It made sense after all. But how did a person decide something like that? It seemed like a potentially life altering decision.

"Naruto-Sempai. What's your nindo?" she asked, curious. Naruto gave her a grin.

"Never to go back on my word. If I say I'm going to do something, I'll do it." Hinata smiled further upon hearing it.

'_How like him_' she thought, starting the wonder how she couldn't start guessing these things.

"Like how I told you I'll have you ready to beat Uchiha Sasuke in Taijutsu" he pointed out with a grin. Hinata found herself giggling at his words. Naruto raised his eyebrows.

"Something about that funny?" he teased. Hinata shook her head but at the same time had to admire his self confidence. In the months she had known him, he had never stopped surprising her. She met his bright blue eyes.

'_How many surprises are left behind those_' she wondered.

"When you think of your own ninja way, it will help. It can be the drive from which I'm sure you'll draw endless strength from. However silly something like that may sound, when you solidify your resolve with purpose, especially one that comes from the heart. You will be surprised how far it can carry you" Naruto said, in a more serious tone. Hinata nodded, her breathing finally returning to normal.

"Ready for some more?" He asked taking up a stance again.

"Yes, Naruto-Sempai" she answered, taking up her own, her smile never fading.

Naruto shot forward, aiming a straight punched toward her. She knocked it aside and aimed her own thrust toward him. Using his free hand he batted it away, then followed the movement swinging around aiming a kick as he did so. She lean backward to avoid it, flicking her own leg upward in a kicking motion.

Naruto had to leap back to avoid it. He grinned to himself, impressed by her move.

'_You're using your flexibility against me, Hinata-chan?_' he asked to himself.

This time Hinata advanced on him aiming another juuken jab at him. Naruto instead fired a snap kick towards her, causing her to have to abandon her attack and move to the side. He continued aimed several fast, light jabs towards her. She bobbed her upper body and head to avoid them without losing her footing, then aimed a juuken strike at his arm to intercept his jab. Naruto yanked his hand back and caught her attack by the wrist with her free hand, wweeping to the side of her pulling her arm across her body. As he made to complete kicking one of her feet from under her, he assault he felt a palm collide with his leg. The arm he had now caught pushed against him knocking him back.

Hinata whirled around to block the incoming strike from behind her. The Naruto behind her burst into smoke. They paused in the momentary stalemate

"You saw?" he questioned mildly surprised.

"When you leapt back, you placed the clone in front of you" She responded holding her block strong.

"Without even using the Byakugan…" Naruto mused, clearly impressed with her. Her attention to detail was clearly improving.

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During her break periods during the academy, Hinata found herself constantly thinking about what her nindo should be. She had a few ideas of things that sounded good in her head. But the moment she tried to put them in an actual scenario they seemed to fall apart. Just how did someone come up with a nindo? How did they know what was worth fighting, and even dying for?

"Sasuke-kun?" she asked turned to the quite boy to her right. Sasuke looked up at her with his usual expression.

"Do you, happen to have a nindo?" she asked, deciding that he was probably likely to. After all, his focus and concentration always seemed to be unshakable.

"Not really" he said after a pause "I have… goals. But I wouldn't call them my nindo" he added thoughtfully. Hinata looked back towards the front.

'_Of course. Goals, ambitions, surely they would all be the same._' She glanced at Sasuke before looking back, deciding not to ask him what they were. Surely if he had wanted to her know he would have told her then and there.

Still that gave her a new idea to explore. Just what were her goals? Except of course scoring higher in taijutsu than Sasuke. She nervously grinned to herself, glancing at Sasuke again, as though he was about to accost her for her thoughts. She leant her elbow on the table and allowed her hand to support her head as she drifted off into her own mind her grin fading as she did so.

She wanted to make her family proud. Her father especially.

She wanted to make herself proud, and not to feel like a burden to anyone.

She wanted Naruto-Sempai to recognise her, and to become an equal to him.

She tried to think of more, but couldn't think of anything that really was as important. She wrote them down as a little note, labelling them as her goals.

'_But if those are my goals… what does that make my nindo?_' she thought in near frustration. Completely unable to work out how if she knew what she wanted, and would be completely determined to see them through, how was her nindo _not_ obvious?

'_Or are they not connected?_' she wondered, slightly disappointed by the thought. She mentally sighed at the seeming impossibility of the choice before her.

How could anyone just pick a life defining phrase?

It was easy for Naruto. He had the sheer confidence and willpower to follow through with his own. She envied that. She could only wish that she had that ability. To never go back on her words? If only.

She was more the type to fall into the same self destructive patterns. To _want_ to improve dearly, but she just didn't seem to know how. Sometimes it was her own drive, which was why she could acknowledge working out her nindo to be a great idea too. But were it only as simple to follow through with.

"Something on your mind?" Sasuke asked, not looking up from his work. Hinata nearly flinched at his sudden question.

"Um, just thinking" she answered unconvincingly. Sasuke cocked an eyebrow

"Well you just asked me what my nindo was. Seemed like a pretty important question" he commented, but not forcefully.

"It's just… I wonder if I could have a better drive if I had one" she explained, choosing her wording carefully. Sasuke seemed to consider it before answering.

"Probably." He said simply. Hinata deflated somewhat, hoping that he would eventually have said something that might've put her on the right train of thought.

"It's that the point of a nindo?" he suddenly continued "To have something to honour. Even if you can't always, you can strive to achieve it"

Hinata blinked.

'_That's it…_' she thought, marvelled by the Uchiha. '_My nindo doesn't have to be something I must follow at all times. It can be whatever I want it to be. I want to be like you, Naruto-Sempai. I want my nindo to be like yours. I too, want to never go back on my words_'

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"So do you think you're ready for it?"

"What, the jounin exam?" Naruto asked in disbelief.

"Well, it's a fair question, Naruto" the Hokage asked. Naruto folded his arms and grinned.

"A kid teaching other kids?" he commented humorously "I don't see it working out"

The hokage's eyes narrowed.

"Even if you became a jounin Naruto, I couldn't possibly give you your own team until you become older. Surely you're aware of that"

"Yeah, I know that. But even so, it would put me in a position where I could be made responsible for more things. I'm not ready for any of that stuff. I have my own… projects" he finished with an almost uncertain tone.

"Perhaps you're speaking of young Lady Hinata" The hokage pointed out. Naruto reacted visibly "You didn't think I didn't know about that, did you?" the hokage asked with a mild laugh in his voice.

"I-I, I though perhaps… It was low key?" he half asked. The hokage began laughing.

"Naruto-chan, you challenged the Hyuuga head!" he said in between his laugh. "How is it you thought that was 'low key'?" Naruto flushed at the obvious error in his thought line.

"But I agree with you Naruto. You are not ready for the jounin exams. Even with your impressive strength, you have much else to learn beyond the ninja arts before I will be satisfied in permitting you entry" the hokage said, his laugh having died down. Naruto nodded to the old man words. He agreed with him completely, even excusing his own personal wishes against the test.

Of course it meant being selfish. He had to consider the village. More jounin meant more military power for the village. But his recent experiences around Hinata had educated him that there was far to learn before he could even think of advancing to that level.

"Well it seems we are in agreement on that issue" the hokage said, "But I do have another reason for calling you here, and no it is not a mission" he answered before Naruto could ask.

"In fact it is exactly about your little incident with Hyuuga Hiashi"

Naruto gulped. Whatever consequences awaited him for that, they could not be good.

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**Author Notes**: Another chapter completed! Not as exciting as the last one I know, but hopefully more insightful. I did want to expand on the forfeiting thing. And although I will be keeping Hiashi as quite an 'ass', I wanted to reveal that there was another side. Even if it is hard to understand.

I hope you enjoyed reading! See you again Friday!


	13. Chapter 12 & 13: Hinata vs Sasuke

**Author Notes**: Alright, anyone else getting increasing annoyed by the chapter numbers being out of sync with the update number? Well I am!

I think the only logical answer to this is to do a double episode. I know, I know

'_Oh darn, EA's going to make me read TWICE as much this time?_'

Yes I am, so suck it up! =P

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**Naruto Sempai: Chapter 12 & 13 – Hinata vs Sasuke**

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'_Faster._'

If she could only be a little faster then maybe, just maybe she could keep up. With less and less time remaining Naruto was taking it decreasingly easy on her. The strength she had once been curious about was becoming apparent. He was strong.

She fired another palm toward him only to have it swatted downward, the same hand then fired toward her as a fist. She leant the side only to find a snap kick already coming her way. Again she found herself tumbling back. This time she didn't have time to ready her stance again. He was already on top of her coming down with a heel kick. She darted to the side and fired another palm at him. Mimicking her own move he darted to the side too. They both snapped into their respective stances.

As he had been revealing his own strength she had been putting the picture together. The first thing that she had learnt was the kage bunshin ability. Unlike what she had read about the ability, Naruto seemed to be able to use them seemingly without limitation. If her research material was to be believed was a sign of an overwhelming chakra reserve. She hadn't noticed previously due to her ability with her bloodline being lesser, but after studying him with her Byakugan carefully she could sense his ocean of chakra. After comparing him to herself it was easy to tell he had more than tenfold her own. After her curiosity had gotten the better of her she even inspected Iruka-Sensei to discover that Naruto even had many times more _still_.

Given the revelation with his taijutsu prowess, she was beginning to marvel at his ability. She couldn't help but wonder if that was normal for a chuunin. He was after all the same rank as Iruka. So he wouldn't be much stronger, assuming he was at all. But her wonder remained; would she be that strong when she became a chuunin?

Naruto bolted forward, aiming another punch toward her. She made to move around him his arm suddenly bent, hitting her head with his elbow. She groaned in pat and did her best to whirl around to react but Naruto wasn't fighting any more.

"Sorry, Hinata-chan" he said apologetically, his stance relaxed. Hinata retook her stance, ignoring the pain from her head. Naruto blinked. There was a brief pause before Hinata shot forward again, letting him know that she wasn't done yet.

Naruto did his best to block but her attacks this time seemed more focused. He blocked her strikes at the wrist, as she hadn't given him the room he needed to dodge. His focus was completely occupied with avoiding her Juuken and wondering where this brilliant surge of strength had come from.

'_Where did this… conviction come from?_´ he silently marvelled. He always had assumed that Hinata was unconsciously holding back. Of course despite his best efforts she was still soft hearted, and thus it proved difficult for her to really attack with meaning. But _something_ had triggered this reaction. Seeing a juuken aimed for a dangerous spot he had no choice.

Hinata suddenly found herself whirling back.

'_What?_' she mentally stammered, '_But… he didn't hit me. I am sure of it_´ she thought. Her Byakugan would surely of seen it. Besides; whatever had knocked her back also felt like it was moving in a peculiar way.

"Sorry, Hinata-chan. You'd have dealt a pretty nasty blow if I didn't cheat" he admitted sheepishly, scratching the back of his head. Silently wondering what the trigger had been. He knew it wasn't pain. He'd unfortunately inflicted plenty of that since they had started training.

"What did you do?" she asked, her lack of breath catching up with her. Naruto paused, before grinning.

"Secret jutsu" he answered mysteriously.

'_A jutsu without hand signs?_' Hinata questioned in her head. She had never heard of anything like that. Naruto found himself smiling at the confused girl's expression.

"But… Did you perform hand signs too fast for me too see, Naruto-Sempai?" she asked. But didn't believe, if he had, why didn't he simply move that fast to deflect her attack?

"No, this technique doesn't require hand signs" he said looking up. Hinata couldn't help but frown in puzzlement. Before she could ask further he spoke again.

"I have my own secrets, Hinata-chan" he chuckled "Perhaps when you pass I might share some with you. You seem pretty intrigued" He commented with raised eyebrows.

"I-I just. I've never seen a jutsu performed without hand signs" Hinata admitted with obvious confusion. Naruto looked at her for a moment thoughtfully before raising his hand, so though he was waving something off.

"I'll be happy to teach you, Hinata-chan. But let's focus on one difficult task at a time, okay?" he grinned. Hinata smiled back, nodding.

She knew he was right. However intriguing that ability may be she had to focus. There was precious little time left. She couldn't afford to become distracted now. Not when she could feel that spark of a chance. However small. She could _feel_ it!

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She had taken notice of the less and less time per session they spent of physical activities at the academy lately. She supposed it was to prevent any strain or injuries so close before the exams. But it did mean that overall they spent less time practising it.

She tried to see it as a blessing. After all, if Sasuke took notice of her improvements he might also begin fuelling in extra effort, then she'd have no chance. But even with that in mind, she found it to be disappointing. It did mean that she was practising less. Plus, she also liked to watch Sasuke fight. To see what she had to compete with, even if he didn't know it.

"You seem to be thinking a lot lately" Sasuke commented. Hinata looked around surprised to see him sitting next to her again. Normally when the weather was fine he was practising his shuriken techniques.

"Yes" she nodded with a polite smile "It's just… with the exams around the corner I can't help but feel a bit nervous" she confessed. Sasuke looked surprised.

"Nervous about what?" he asked without bothering to point out that she'd been steadily rising from one of the worst in the class to one of the top.

Hinata was about to answer but stopped herself. She couldn't just say anything, yet she didn't want to lie.

"I guess" she began, unsure herself where she was going with it.

"You have a lot to live up to?" Sasuke finished for her. Hinata blinked, not actually believing she was that lucky for a moment. Sasuke cocked an eyebrow. She smiled and nodded.

"Well then you should be nervous" Sasuke commented folding his arms and closing his eyes in a knowing fashion.

"Huh?" was all she gasped. Sasuke smiled, looking back at her

"I'm not going to let you beat me, Hinata"

Hinata found a smile of her own creeping on her face. Perhaps it was that Sasuke's very rarely seen smile was affecting her. Or that in that single sentence he seemed to acknowledge her as a rival. But she found herself grinning back to him without being able to help it.

"In fact once we pass I'm going to leave you behind" Sasuke continued turning away.

"Then I will do my best to keep up with you, Sasuke-kun" she answered quietly. Sasuke turned his head to look at her.

"You can try" he smirked, then proceeding to walk away. No doubt going to practise a little more, Hinata assumed.

She turned back to her lunch. Her mood considerably lifted by the Uchiha. So far as she could recall he never acknowledged anyone. But he seemed to acknowledge her.

She allowed a smile for herself.

Even if it was only for a day. If the Uchiha genius acknowledged her, that had to be worth something, right?

Soon enough classes began again. She didn't mind so much. But only wished she could spend more time training. She knew that she was at the passable level now, but she would still feel better doing that than constantly going over the theory side of the exams. She felt that she knew as much she was going to learn. Going over it again and again was beginning to feel pointless.

She bit her lip. She was being selfish again. She knew this was for the benefit of everyone, not just her. She glanced over the newest worksheet that was placed before her. Each question was one she felt she'd been asked dozens of times.

She resisted the urge to kick herself. She wouldn't be caught thinking such things while she knew not everyone felt the same way. She picked up the paper and began reading question two.

She blinked, and then smiled to herself.

'_Iruka-Sensei… you copy cat_'

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Naruto performed the hand signs again. This was much harder than he thought. He groaned at the jutsu only made a fraction of the desired effect.

"Wind jutsu were never this hard" he whined in a whisper to himself "Stupid-" He paused, turning oddly having sensed the presence behind him.

It was the Hyuuga kid stood behind him. Naruto turned fully, looking at the boy up and down before looked at him with wide, expecting eyes.

"You did not defeat Hyuuga Hiashi" he drawled accusingly. Naruto frowned, wondering what on earth was going on all of a sudden.

"I'm sorry, you are Hyuuga…?" he asked.

"Neji" the boy answered. Naruto noted the venom in his voice.

"Right… Well if you hurry up and ask me whatever it is you want quickly we just might have time to extract that stick from your ass" Naruto said, returning a portion of Neji's obvious dislike. Neji gritted his teeth, his previous calm yes disapproving expression morphing into anger. But Naruto didn't really care so much. Besides, this kid approach him with his attitude. That and, he didn't like how he looked at Hinata. Not one bit.

"Why is it she still trains with you?" Neji asked, keeping his anger in check. Naruto looked on.

"Because I won my challenge against Hiashi" Naruto explained slowly, as though he were talking to a first year academy student. This was not earning him points with Neji.

"That's ridiculous" Neji spat.

"Your attitude to a senior is ridiculous" Naruto snapped "I am helping Hinata-san train. What's with the attitude?"

Neji paused.

"Alright" Naruto said, holding his hands up in a surrendering expression "I insulted you directly. For that I apologise, it was wrong" he said earnestly

"Noted" was all the Hyuuga responded with. Naruto sighed, rubbing his forehead.

"Now you can explain yourself" Naruto gestured. Neji didn't look amused.

"I'm not talking about what you think" Naruto explained "Back then, with Hinata. You didn't think it was anything short of obvious, did you?"

"That's none of your concern" Neji said

"Right, like Hinata's training is none of yours. Yet here you are" Neji folded his arms and shook his head.

"Actually, overseeing the safety of Hinata-_sama_ is one of my duties" he shot coolly.

"Wrong" Naruto retorted "After besting him, I received a message from him from the Hokage directly. I am now responsible for Hinata's safety. I guess that means you've been relieved of that burden" Naruto couldn't help but feel a dislike toward the Hyuuga before him. He was rude and infuriatingly arrogant. It took all his willpower from just kicking his ass here and now.

His expression at Naruto words was surprised to say the least. Naruto knew that no matter what, Branch members would be tasked with the protection of the Main house. He wasn't that stupid. Still, those words should help Neji to recede his assertion on the matter. But it did not. He continued to stand there just watching.

"What?" Naruto said, finally breaking the silence. Neji smirked.

"I am trying to work out how exactly you defeated Hiashi-_sama_." He remarked.

"And?"

"It is incomprehensible" Neji drawled. Naruto grinned and shrugged,

"Fine, we can trade secrets. You tell me what your problem with Hinata is, and I'll tell you how I defeated Hiashi" Naruto offered. Neji visually hesitated.

"That's" Neji began "None of your business"

"Very well" Naruto said turning around "Then I'm getting back to my training. If you stay here I'll be assuming you want to spar. And I'm no longer in the mood to hold back." he shot dangerously, not bothering to look back at the boy as he sped through the seals again.

'_Damn Hyuuga's_' he thought.

He tried for several hours to get back into the mood for his own training. But after the interruption he couldn't get him mind of Hinata's home life.

He knew that there was always some resentment from the branch of that particular clan to the main house. The caged bird seal of course was the reason. But Naruto also understood its purpose. It did keep a powerful tool on the side of the Leaf after all. The unfortunate truth was that even ninja without such a powerful bloodline power could turn traitor. The thought of a Hyuuga Clan as an enemy was not a pleasant one.

He found himself absently walking toward the Hyuuga estate. He resisted laughing at his own irrationality, after all what he was doing was also kind of pathetic. In just a few days she would be kunoichi of the leaf. She did Not need rescuing. Certainly not from her own family.

But before Naruto could regain control over his actions he had already requests her to the Hyuuga guarding the door.

'_Crap_' he thought, trying desperately to think of something he could do. Ichiraku's probably wasn't going to quite cut it this time.

"Naruto-Sempai?" the soft voice came. Naruto snapped back into reality. He flashed her a grin

"Hey Hinata-chan" he greeted. She smiled back, and patiently waiting for him to say something.

"Say, want to take a walk with me?" he asked, noticing the guards expression at him asking her for a walk when the sun was nearly set he added on "You know, talk about your training" he finished with a firm nod to her.

Hinata nodded, and followed Naruto for awhile, waiting for him to talk. But he didn't. She allowed herself to wonder what he was up to. She immediately noticed they didn't seem to be heading towards either Ichiraku's or their usual training ground.

"Naruto-Sempai?" she asked meekly. He seemed to snap out of a daze when she spoke.

"Oh Sorry Hinata-chan. I was just thinking I guess" he smiled "How was your day?"

"It's was good." She replied with a smile. She continued to give him the details she never got to tell anyone else, giving particular focus to the words of Sasuke. Naruto grinned.

"Scaring him into acknowledging you eh? Always a good sign" he chuckled.

"Well, I don't think I'm scaring him Naruto-Sempai" she pointed out nervously. Naruto glanced at her with a kind smile.

"Always so modest" he commented. Hinata felt her cheeks redden.

"Say" he said, coming to a halt "Have you ever seen the sun set from the Hokage mountain?"

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Hinata marvelled at the colours of the sky. It was beautiful. The sun shot golden rays of light into the darkening sky above, hitting the clouds above, igniting them into a series of black, gold and red. Like some wonderful tides of colour in the sky again the even deepening blue skies.

It was strange how difficult it looked only from being in a different place.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Naruto asked for once his voice not filled with energy, but calmness.

"It is" was all she could respond with as a whisper. They sat there together in silence until the light show was finally over, and only the stars from above gave light.

"Ano, Naruto-Sempai?" she asked, breaking the silence.

"Yeah?" Naruto responding, not getting up from his position from lying on his back

"I was just wondering if there was a reason you asked me out tonight" she said, fighting the uncomfortable heat in her face.

"To be honest?" Naruto asked "Not really"

"Oh" Hinata replied lamely. She couldn't help but feel flustered by that answer. After all, who asked someone out just for the sake of it? Certainly no one did that to her before.

"Besides, I told you to take it easy tonight. Watching pretty things is about as easy as it gets" he pointed out, as though he were trying to defend his actions.

"Ano… but we did have to climb a mountain" she pointed out. Naruto mused with a hum.

"But it was worth it?" he ventured

"Of course" Hinata replied happily. Naruto let loose a chuckle

"I'm glad you think so. I used to come up here all the time. It's better when I'm not alone" he said with a faint smile.

Hinata opened her mouth to talk, but nothing came out. She wanted to say that if he wanted, she could always be here with him. But after failing to say it, the words played in her head. Causing her to feel horribly embarrassed. She felt her head burning at the idea of saying such a thing. In the midst of her own inner turmoil Naruto spoke again.

"Thanks for coming out with me, Hinata" he finished, finally sitting up.

"Its okay, Naruto-Sempai. I was glad to" She said quietly. She could understand it but, her cheeks would not cool down. She found herself absently playing with her fingers. And her smile wasn't fading at all. She found her mind not wondering from the present, completely content with that as it was. Before she could fully investigate these feeling she was interrupted by Naruto.

"So, are you ready to prove to Sasuko that he's right to keep an eye on you?" Hinata smiled

"It's Sasuke"

"Still insisting that's his name? Bless" Naruto chuckled.

"And yes, I think so, thanks to you Naruto-Sempai" she answered, looking at him fondly.

"Well, that's good. Because we made a promise. So we've got to stick to it, right? Hinata nodded enthusiastically.

"Oh, speaking of promises." Naruto said thoughtfully "I was supposed to tell you this awhile ago. But what with training there's not really been a moment to bring it up." He glanced at her curious expression before proceeding "After my victory, challenging Hiashi it seems he sent a personal request to the Hokage."

Hinata swallowed, not liking the way this seemed to be turning out.

"He's asked that I become a guardian for you in addition to my supervising." He paused allowing her to absorb the information "What do you think?"

"What do you mean guardian?" she asked uncertainly.

"Well, just keeping an extra eye out. You are the current heir after all. Hopefully maybe that might mean we can get put on more missions together after your initial genin days" he said cheerfully. Hinata gave him a nod, returning his smile.

That sounded nice.

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The day had finally arrived. That was her first thought as her eyes snapped open, instead of the usual slow but steady awakening. She found herself spending more time on everything during her morning ritual, as though one thing which was not done properly would doom her to certain failure.

By consequence she found herself to be running behind schedule. She hurried though double checking all her equipment for the big day before darting out of her room, to find her father waiting outside.

"I expected you to be earlier for today" he announced, his words weighing heavily on her.

"I'm sorry Father" she said with a regretful bow.

"Be sure to do your best, and bring the Hyuuga clan honour" he said with a nod.

"Yes, father" she said bowing again, before hastily walking toward the courtyard.

As soon as she was out of the Hyuuga estate she broke out into a run toward the academy. Not wanting to be late, even if by comparison she would only be late for being early. The idea of her being actually late was beyond horrifying to her.

In record time she found herself slipping through the still somewhat empty hallways and into her classroom. Looking around she found herself only to have been beaten by a few students, one of which predictably being Sasuke. She moved over to her usual seat, which happened to be next to the genius. He greeted her with a grunt and nod.

"Good morning Sasuke-kun" she greeted.

"Ready for today?" he asked, nonchalantly.

"I think so" she said with a smile. It was only as those words left her mouth did the crushing feeling of '_Not ready at all_' began to weigh heavily on her conscious thought.

In what felt like the blink of an eye, Iruka walked into the classroom with Mizuki and Suzume-sensei carrying a large stack of test papers. Hinata shrank in her seat, suddenly very will to honest take back everything she ever said about previous theory being in any way below her. In fact she would do that now just to make a point of it.

Slap.

Before her lay the paper. Except it wasn't a paper. It was a book! She tilted her head down toward the desk to inspect the thickness of the item before concluding it had to be at least 50 pages.

"You have 90 minutes. You may begin…" Iruka called from the front. Hinata's attention snapped forward. "Now"

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Two hours later Hinata was still mentally pacing back and forth. The test didn't turn out so bad, did it?

She felt was though she had answered every question right, but then she didn't have time to check them all over. And worse, what if some of them had genjutsu's cast upon them?

Wait, she told herself. Did she check to see if the paper had a genjutsu on it?

Uh Oh.

"You look tense" Naruto commented. Hinata whirled around.

"I didn't check the genjutsu for a test!" she burst out in alarm. Naruto blinked several times before a smirk fought it way onto his face. It was all he could do not to laugh.

Hinata mistook that for the worst possible sign.

"Did it really have one on it?" she gasped, mortified.

"N-ugh!" Naruto paused "Er, I cannot tell you that, actually" he said scratching his head and looking toward the floor. Her expression that was nothing short of pure despair caught his eye and he looked with a forced grin.

"Hey, Hey, you'll do fine!" he tried to comfort, but she was already slumped on the floor her face buried in her hands. He sat next to her and rubbed her back.

"Don't worry so much. I am confident you did _fine_" he said trying to emphasis the last word. Hinata broke out of her hands and looked at him with slightly watery eyes.

"Y-You mean it?" she stammered. Naruto smiled, this time for real.

"Definitely. Now come on. This is no time for a funk. You have three more tests to go"

"Shuriken, Ninjutsu, and then… Taijutsu" she said, forcing out the final word. Naruto hooked his arm on her far shoulder.

"Yep, and you're gonna be great! Just remember how far you've come. And more importantly. How far you have yet to go!" he encouraged her. She smiled back with a small nod and pink cheeks.

"Your next two tests you'll take one after another so I'll say this now. Good luck, and Hinata-chan. I believe in you. Try to believe in yourself too, okay?" he said rocking her gentle a little. She gave a stiff nod in response before another bell rang. One she was secretly hoping never rang.

Naruto lead her towards the fields where she would take her next tests, before departing. Explaining that not being an official instructor it would be against the rules for him to be present. That deflated Hinata a little further. But she steeled herself as best she could before preceding.

After the explanation of how the tests would be run she was glad to find out that she would be taking the shuriken tests first. While she had no doubt that if she wasn't paying attention she could very easily fail this test, she felt there was still an awful lot less pressure on doing this than the taijutsu. The groups split into two groups, the other half being lead away by 3 instructors while the rest of them would apparently do the shuriken test with the others watching one by one.

"Alright for basic points You must hit the red targets" Iruka explained. As Hinata looked the red dots on the setup before them were simple enough to hit.

"For more points you must throw at least three at a time" he continued. She swallowed, that could prove difficult. She had only just gotten up to a 10/10 throwing just one at a time.

"Finally for extra credit use a combination of kunai, shuriken and senbon. If you do not have senbon on you, I have some you may use" Iruka finished. Hinata just stared on. Surely that was impossible.

Not two minutes later Uchiha Sasuke proved that it was very much possible. Scoring full marks. Hinata could only gape in disbelief. She had never even handled a senbon. Never mind throwing scores of them like he did, each one finding its mark perfectly.

She was able to feel slightly better when Kiba tried to mimic the Uchiha only to look a bit foolish. Fortunately he was able to realise how poorly he was doing and focus well enough on the final shots well enough so that Hinata thought he would pass. Would be close though.

"Hyuuga Hinata" Iruka called out. Hinata froze. It was only when Iruka scanned for her and found her, did she find the courage to move. She shakily approached the mark she was to stand on.

"Would you like to try using senbon?" Iruka offered. Hinata glanced at the weapons before shaking her head. This was going to be hard enough without risking that. She counted the targets, and worked out that she could try throwing three at once twice if they all missed before she would have to go singular to get decent marks.

'_But if I just use single shots, and get them all right, wouldn't that be better?_' she doubted in her mind. After a minute of a inner debate she decided that in the field she would have to learn to throw more than one at a time. And so she should at least try.

Slowly she drew three shuriki. After a moment of steadying herself she threw them. She watched carefully as the flew through the air. The first hit it's mark. The second disappeared into the bushes. The third found a thud of it's own. A bird fell out of the tree. Hinata's mouth shot open in humiliation. The class erupted into laughter.

"It's okay Hinata" Iruka assured her. She glanced at him, before nodding and drawing another three.

In the end she didn't perform too poorly. Though she was utterly aghast that she had killed the poor bird. Iruka told her not to concern herself so much, and that they thought they had cleared the area, but accidents happened.

But it was over now, she told herself, and she could relax and think of a plan for her taijutsu test. She had only gone over a fraction of the techniques Naruto had built up with her before she hear Iruka calling out for them all to follow him.

"Alright, now, your taijutsu tests will be broken down into two parts. First of all you will be organised in a formation. We will call out moved, and you do them. In this case it will be simple things such as left kick, right punch. By simply completing this all correctly will earn you a pass. If however you do something wrong, you will need to impress us in the next stage. Which involves pairing off all students for a little one on one spar. Taijutsu only, and we will tell you when to stop. We will stop some fights early, others we will allow to continue until we feel you have displayed your ability.

Hinata very slowly edged her eyes over to Sasuke. Only to find him looking at her. She instantly looked the other way, and then all over, as though she was merely looking around. Realising she probably didn't have him fooled, she settling for looking at the ground.

Soon enough she found herself in the formation waiting for Iruka to begin the test.

"Alright everyone" he called out "Right punch" The whole class followed his instruction.

"Left punch" again the whole class followed.

"Left kick, right punch" At their own speeds the class followed. Hinata realised that however simple this test initially sounded, was probably harder than it would seem

"Left punch, right punch, left kick" Hinata obeyed.

The test continued for several minutes. With the chain of attacks growing slightly more complicated at the time went on. But no one seemed to have any real difficulty with it.

"Haruno Sakura, you will be with Yamanaka Ino" Iruka called out. The two girls glared at each other with such intensity Hinata was sure she saw sparks fly.

"Inuzaka Kiba, you will be with Akimichi Chouji" Their reaction was far less dramatic. Kiba sneered at Chouji, who didn't seem to notice from his chips he pulled out from seemingly thin air.

"Hyuuga Hinata, you will be with Uchiha Sasuke" Hinata paled. She met the onyx eyes, but didn't share the grin that came with his. She looked around to find all eyes on her. They eyes all screamed the same thing.

'_I'm dead_' she cried in her head.

After Iruka finished calling out the list, he became calling out the pair in the order they were assigned. But nothing could distract her from that fact she would literally have to beat Sasuke to beat him. The irony was not lost on her. She could only hope her fight was not as brutal as the carnage that was taking place between Sakura and Ino.

After the instructors finally tore the girls apart, who both came away worse for wear, it was Kiba and Chouji. Which seemed to be quite different. While Sakura and Ino both used similar styles, and had similar strength and speed. Kiba was obviously much faster than Chouji. But Chouji was much stronger. Kiba managed to get in some good blows at first, but then Chouji caught him and wrestled him into submission. Hinata looked down at the half crushed Kiba and could only hope she would suffer so little.

"Hinata, Sasuke, you're up" Iruka called.

Hinata could feel her body tremble. Weeks and months of her hard work, had all been leading up to this moment. Shakily she stood, and slowly moved forward.

Sasuke was standing before her, already in his own ready stance. His expression was unreadable, except for that glint of excitement in his eyes. Perhaps it was her test again Mizuki-Sensei that was the reason behind that glint. She unconsciously slide her fingers upward and began to twiddle them, pushing them against each other occasionally.

She found herself thinking of all the time she'd spent with Naruto, training so hard her body literally felt as though it was ready to come apart. Would it be enough? Or was it all time spent wasted?

She couldn't shake the thought that she just wasn't ready. She wasn't prepared for this, and was going to loose badly because of it. It was the same as everything else. Whenever she seemed to find herself in the face off situations she always came off as the loser, the failure who couldn't even achieve some dignity in losing. She looked about her, her own sad eyes meeting the ones that knew she was going to lose. No one believed in her.

'_I believe in you. Try to believe in yourself too, okay?_'

Hinata blinked. Of course! Naruto believed in her. She could help the smile that slowly and secretively replaced her already-defeated expression. He'd worked so hard with her, the past few months. He had spent time with her, helped her getting stronger, as well as was there just to talk to if ever she needed it. He didn't do it because it was an obligation of any sort on his part. He did it for her, and she knew, he truly did believe in her.

'_I never to go back on my word. If I say I'm going to do something, I'll do it_' If she really wanted to follow that ideal. She would have to start now.

She dropped her fingers from their twiddling, and slide into the stance she had been practising almost non-stop for month.

She activated her Byakugan. She poured all of her focus before her.

'_Sorry Sasuke-kun… But I promised to win!_'

"Alright, you both seem to be ready" Iruka said, "Begin"

It was Sasuke that attack first. As she had seen before his attacks were blindingly fast, and quite circular in motion. She blocked his strikes rather than trusting herself to dodge them. His first burst of attacks soon came to an end when she was able to distance herself. He didn't seem eager to jump right in after her.

After a second pause he came forward again, this time leaping in for an aerial kick. Hinata bobbed beneath it, aiming a palm thurst for his chest as he landed. He caught her wrist and used it to launch her flying.

She landed with a skid, spot to counter the attack she already knew was coming. She countered his punch with a powerful kick.

Thud.

Sasuke was sent backwards. Hinata blinked.

'_I… I got him?_' she thought with awe. He was already coming back toward her this time with a kick. Drawing courage from her first hit against him, she step forward meeting his kick with her own. As they cancelled each other one she resummoned energy to her leg, not allowing it to land, instead redirecting it toward his head. He ducked underneath it. But she was prepared for it. As he roses again she brought her leg back, crashing her heel into his head.

There was an gasp from the class when Sasuke was knocked down for a second time. Hinata resisted a smile, but inside she was flying. That heel kick held no real power, but it was enough to kick your opponent down. A little trick Naruto had used on her. Back in his stance, this time she summoned the courage to take the offensive. Aimed several thrusts towards him, he seemed to know how to block her juuken correctly.

Suddenly he shot his own fists at her whilst dodging her strike. She bobbed her head to avoid his. Immediately having to do so again as he came back with his other hand. At the same time they each fired right kicks against each other resulting in a double impact. Not satisfied she immediately kicked again. Not expecting it Sasuke was hit again. Then tried it himself, but Hinata was able to duck under it. She found herself having to block a punch from him as soon as she stood. Able to knock his arms away with her block she was able to land a palm onto his shoulder before they broke apart.

She had the advantage. And damn it all, she was going to keep it!

Sasuke rubbed his shoulder, clearly feeling the effect of her juuken. Iruka looked at Mizuki who could only look back with a perplexed look.

Retaking stance Sasuke, edged closer. Hinata was ready for him. He feinted a punch, instead launched a kick which she couldn't dodge in time. Following up with a series of punches, Hinata dodged the first and proceeded to block the following. Sensing the danger Sasuke disengaged just as Hinata aimed another palm. She retook her stance, not willing to miss another opportunity.

Iruka stood in shock at the shy girl's transformation. The only reason she had been paired with Sasuke was because it was believed her juuken might provide a challenge when Sasuke was clearly above and beyond anyone else. He never would of imagined Hinata could fight him toe to toe and come off as the stronger fighter. He would have to stop the fight soon. Due to the toll of damage juuken would do to Sasuke.

They re-engaged, trading series of blocking and striking with their arms. Sasuke tried a kick to Hinata's body but she was too fast, and slapped it back down with a juuken blast added. Sasuke grunted.

Iruka's eyes narrowed, that last exchange had sealed it.

As they re-traded blocks and strikes again this time it was Hinata who launched a kick into the mix. Sasuke narrowly dodged it, and even managed to hold into her leg. Hinata in response kicked off with her other leg and planted it into his stomach. Freeing herself and knocking him backward.

"That will do" Iruka said stepping in. Hinata was already back on her feet.

Sasuke groaned, clutching his stomach as he rose up.

Iruka didn't need to say anything.

Hinata bowed to both Iruka and Sasuke before turning and moving to her original sitting position. A faint smile graced upon her lips. She thought only one thing.

'_Thank you, Naruto-Sempai_'

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Author Notes: Yeah…. I did it. Now you see!

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it. Sorry it was a slightly later update than I planned, but hey, it's effectively a double-episode so you hush up!


	14. Chapter 14: Teams Assemble!

**Author Notes**: I hope the fight between Hinata and Sasuke was to all of your liking, I understand it could stand to have been longer.

As time goes on and more fights are added feel free to offer input. If you feel I could be more/less details on various aspects it's good to voice that to me. Of course at the moment it has only been Taijutsu, but that will change soon as we pass the examinations.

I am also feeling subtle hints that perhaps my chapters could each stand to be a little longer? I will be attempted to keep this in mind for the future!

One final note; I decided to put in a week break between graduation and their teams being announced. There is a reason you'll see, but it's also because it's hard for me to entirely accept that for someone as busy as the Hokage is (allegedly) he can cram perfectly thought out teams from a list of people that graduated that very same day.

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**Naruto Sempai: Chapter 14 – Teams Assemble!**

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Hinata resisted the urge to shift under her fathers presence. No matter how composed she felt, she always felt awkward under his direct gaze.

"I am informed you passed your genin exams today" he spoke, as a statement rather than a question.

"Yes Father" she replied keeping a level voice.

"I am glad to see your time with Uzumaki Naruto has not gone to waste, as prior to which you were facing the prospect of failing, were you not?" he asked, his voice perfectly smooth. Hinata had to focus herself on not looking away from him in shame of herself.

"Yes father" she replied automatically

"I presume your training with Uzumaki Naruto will continue?" he inquired

"Yes father. Naruto-Sempai has spoke of expanding my training to encompass preparing for situations he feels the genin exams do not" she answered, trying to keep her responses as short and to the point as possible. After all, her father was not a man for idle chatter.

"I see. That seems like an intelligent thing to consider. Continue to do well under his tutorship, Hinata" he said, giving her a slight nod.

"Yes Father" she repeated.

"Now I am interested in exact level of your progress; tell me of your results in comparison to those of your classmates" he instructed his expression cool and unreadable, his posture as always picture perfect. This was to be expected. Every single time there were recorded tests she would have to recite her scores and her ranking in the class based on which. It was the common procedure at this point.

"In my written test I scored one hundred and thirteen of one hundred and twenty seven. I positioned fourth, behind tied for first place Haruno Sakura and Nara Shikamaru who scored maximum points." She began giving a slight paused until her father nodded in motion for her to continue.

"In my shuriken test I scored sixty eight out of one hundred. I came in fifth place behind Uchiha Sasuke, who scored one hundred out of one hundred" she finished a nervousness creeping into her voice. From his stony expression it was impossible to read, but she assumed he could not be best pleased with that result.

"Continue" he instructed.

"In my ninjutsu test I performed all required techniques as required and scored one hundred out of one hundred. Due to the number of students who did so there were no ranking for such"

"And Taijutsu?" Hiashi asked, barely visibly leaning inward.

"I was given one hundred and ninety six points for my performance against Uchiha Sasuke. Placing my as the top of my class by forty two points above Uchiha Sasuke" she finished, silently hoping this was enough to please him enough to see past her other short comings.

"And over all?" he asked, revealing nothing of his thoughts or emotions.

"I scored four hundred and seventy seven points out of the required three hundred. I positioned first, two points ahead of Uchiha Sasuke." She announced, fighting hard to keep her voice smooth. Not proud or any other such thing which could cause her to sound arrogant.

"I see." He said, closing his eyes and gesturing for her to leave.

Hinata inwardly slumped. She had hardly been expecting a cry of joy and a hug, but some acknowledgement would not have gone unappreciated.

"Yes father" she said with a bow. She stood and turned to leave. Just as she reached up for the door her father spoke

"Your cousin Neji is a genius among our clan, Hinata." He said, pausing thoughtfully "Yet if I recall, your scores surpass his by over twenty points."

Hinata blinked, not daring to turn around.

"Continue to make me proud, Hinata"

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Hinata looked at her reflection in the mirror. She worn her usual attire, but her attention was focused upon the new addition to her appearance that took the form of a metal plate on a piece of cloth wrapped loosely around her neck. It hadn't sunk in until now. She was now a fully fledged, and responsible shinobi of Konohagakure.

It was probably because everything had been moving so quickly up until now. First Naruto had greeted her after she had finished her Ninjutsu test. Making a fuss of her new forehead protected, and he seemed especially pleased that she had taken the title of 'Rookie of the year'. He even decided to treat her to ramen, but she had to wonder if they weren't going to end up there anyway. She had no difficulties working out that he was exceptionally proud of her. He had even set up special training during the week break they had before their teams would be decided.

Then last night had been the meeting with her father.

'_Continue to make me proud, Hinata_'

She smiled at the thought. It would hardly count as a complement by any one else's standards. But knowing her father, she could see this was about as close as she could get.

Satisfied with her appearance she stepped out of her room, and began to make her way to the agreed meeting point with Naruto. She couldn't help the spring in her step. She felt good today. She had passed that big hurdle that was the genin exam. The sun was shining, the birds were singing and she had persuaded Naruto to show her the ability he used against her in their training. The seal-less technique.

Even the idea of such a thing intrigued her to no end. She had attempted to look it up during the small period of time that was her own between the academy and training. But to no avail. When she had proposed the idea to Sasuke he had simply said it was impossible.

'_But it isn't, is it, Naruto-sempai?_' she thought to herself with a soft smile. Whenever she thought of him lately she could feel her body automatically warm to that ever present energy that flowed from him.

In just months he had taken her, Hyuuga Hinata, the stagnant student, and turned her into something so much more. Someone she could be proud of. For once. His abilities, his personality, even his outlook on life. She had passed the stage that was awe, and was already into the admiring stage. Her goals had become distinctly similar to his. He was the kind of person she wanted to be.

Not powerful. Not that strength held no value to her, but that was not what she thought of when she considered him strong. It was the confidence and determination. Those were the traits in him that she truly admired. The traits that she herself still lacked.

It was true that she had come a long way. She only stuttered now when feeling a strong sense of discomfort, and she could hold a conversation, no longer afraid to show her curiosity with a mild and polite question or two. But she still could barely bring herself to instigate a conversation with anyone other than Naruto himself. Even when she was in a conversation, it was still the case that the other person did most of the talking.

"Hinata" a voice from behind her said, bringing her back to earth. She turned to find Sasuke behind her.

"Sasuke-kun?" she asked, confused by his presence. Had he known where she was?

"Congratulations on your examination results" he compliments coolly. Hinata gave a small bow in thanks.

"Thank you, Sasuke-kun" she replied, but before she could add to it he spoke again.

"I noticed you getting stronger before the exams. But I never would have thought that you would beat me" he admitted "Perhaps it was because I had become lazy, but I wonder…" he trailed off, eyeing her suspicious. Hinata could only stand there, unable to bring herself to tell him the truth. Neither did she want to lie to him, so instead she opted to allow him to continue.

Sasuke clicked his tongue and breathed a laugh.

"It looks like I picked a good person to be my rival after all" He said, looking at her with a smirk.

"Th-Thank you, Sasuke-kun." She responded, again with a slight bow. Unable to think of an appropriate response to what he was saying. Instead she caught herself thinking he didn't speak to people often enough to express what he was trying to say correctly. She mentally scolded herself.

"Just know, that you might be ahead for now, but I won't let that go unchanged." And with that, he simply turned and walked away.

Hinata could only watch as he left. She wondered for a moment if it was her own shyness, or his awkwardness that had made their conversation so abrupt. She hadn't exactly responded well to his words, but then he hadn't given her much to work with either.

"Hinata-chan!" another voice came, again from behind her. She turned again, this time to see Naruto running towards her. She smiled again, and walked toward him.

"Good morning Naruto-Sempai" she greeted happily.

"Hmmm, I don't know. You've got that now" he said pointing toward her forehead protector.

"What do you mean?" she asked confused.

"Don't you think it's a sign that we're equals now?" he asked with a grind, thumbing towards his own "We're both shinobi of the hidden leaf now." He finished with a wink. Hinata's smiled broadened

"Yes, Naruto-Sempai, but you are a chuunin, and I am barely a genin" she pointed out a little uncomfortably.

"Barely?" he questioned with fake confusion "From what I heard you scored top of the class, with the best grades they've had since… er, that time" he said, waving it off

"That time?" she repeated, resisting a laugh.

"Yeah, that time, it was good there was cake. So, training!" he pushed on ignoring their former topic.

"Want to see an Uzumaki special?" he offered with a knowing grin. Hinata's smile lit up her face with obvious excitement.

"Yes please, Naruto-sempai"

"Come on then, let's go. Race you" he laughed, bolting from the spot. Hinata quickly shot after him, but could barely even keep him in her sights. By the time she got to their make-shift training ground her breath was already quickened.

Although the chuunin exams had come and past they decided to stay there instead of going back to their training ground. Hinata had asked out of the idea that they were less likely to be interrupted, or discovered. Not that she had a fear of it, but she couldn't help but feel as though in some form she was betraying Sasuke. At the very least his trust.

"So, you ready?" he asked. Hinata nodded, her smile fading down as she looked closely at the curled palm he now held up. His fingers were spread as though he were holding an invisible ball.

Then all of a sudden she could see the air being sucked and pulled around his open palm. As though the air was being pulled in to a hand sized maelstrom. She watched with fascination as it condensed into a transparent, yet light twisting sphere in his hands.

"A-amazing…" was all she could whisper out in awe

"What is it?" she asked, tearing her eyes off the sphere to look at Naruto.

"Nature manipulation, at the highest level. This actually a stol-er, borrowed move." Naruto said scratching the back of his head with his free hand.

"But I don't understand" Hinata said, a frown spreading across her face "We were taught that chakra has to be manipulated with hand signs to create techniques, how is it possible you didn't have to?"

Naruto smiled.

"How it is possible for you to use your gentle fist?" he asked. Hinata blinked.

"I focus my chakra to my palms and release them into my strikes" she answered, unsurely.

"The first step to this technique working is not dissimilar. Well they both involve focusing your chakra to your hands at least. This technique involves taking nature transformation to the highest level. Remember on my first day teaching in the academy, I gave out paper to see what you chakra element was?" he asked. Hinata nodded in response.

"Well, when you master your chakra's element, a technique like this will become possible. Though of course, this technique takes a lot of training to get it working. But the results…" he grinned. He whipped his arm around a faced his palm towards the trees. Hinata watched as the maelstrom of wind shot forward, and with a splintering crash punched a clean hole right through the tree.

Hinata gaped.

"This technique doesn't have the pure power that Kakashi-sensei's Raikiri has, but it has range. Plus I don't think I have developed this technique to the same level Kakashi-sensei has." Hinata slowly turned her head,

"Ano, Naruto-semapi?" she asked shakily "You didn't punch a hole through me…" she pointed out, though immensely grateful. Naruto suppressed a laugh into a grin

"Of course not, you're my ramen partner! Besides, I can't summon this power instantly. So if I try to use it too quickly it doesn't work properly. But even that has its uses" he explain, demonstrating by creating splashes in the water next to them. After several he shook his hand as though he had been writing for a long period of time.

"Still, this technique is somewhat chakra-intensive. Even I cannot afford to shoot them off without thinking." Hinata nodded. A technique that powerful? That much made sense at least.

A random thought crossed her mind

"Ano, Naruto-Sempai, is that your power?" she asked, curiously. Naruto frowned and shook his head.

"No, it's not the kind of ability I like to use." He confessed "I mastered it so my wind jutsu could be more effective, and as far as that goes, it's a worth while exercise if you have the time." Hinata's expression softened. Realising that he probably had nothing but time when he likely worked on it.

"But I can understand how it is a potentially nice ability to have, especially against dangerous Hyuuga heirs" he laughed. Hinata flushed and looked away. He nudged her

"Nothing to be embarrassed about. The fact that you got me to the point where I had to use that is quite impressive I think" he said with his usual grin. Hinata smiled shyly back.

"Alright, training!" he said, clapping his hands together "Taijutsu we've covered enough for now I think. We can keep going if that's what you want, but for now it might be an idea to broaden your expertise if only a little. So we can work on ninjutsu, genjtsu, chakra control, elemental manipulation if you are interested, or weapons, shuriken techniques, sea-ahh, well maybe not that" He caught himself, mid-ramble.

"Seals?" she repeated, confused. Naruto waved his hands off

"Seals are complicated, probably not the ideal thing for you to be working on at the moment." He explained. But seeing Hinata's curious expression he continued "Why? Do you want to learn seals?" he asked, folding his arms thoughtfully.

Hinata weighed the idea.

'_It wasn't anything like that_' she thought to herself '_I was more curious that you mentioned it than anything else_'

"Would you like me to learn seals?" she countered, feeling daring. Naruto's expression slowly formed a grin.

"Hyuuga Hinata. You ask me what my abilities are?" he said, moving his hands to his hips "My favourite abilities lie within my seals" he grinned. Hinata returned to a confused expression

"What kind of seals?" she asked, having never been taught about any such thing a a combat seal before. Naruto whipped out several pieces of paper from his back pouch and held them up to her

"You know what these are?" he asked. She inspected them, recognising only one.

"All I know is that one is an explosive tag" she said, pointing to the first. Naruto half nodded and half shrugged

"Yeah, but that's the most boring one!" he cried, removing it from the others sliding it back into his pouch.

"Seals can be used for anything. Storing weapons, food and that sort of stuff is commonly known, but it's the uncommon stuff, and the creative side of it that always captivate me." He grinned, pulling one apart from the others

"This one is one I came up with. After Ero-sennin explained to me how exploding tags worked." He began to talk at an increasing rapid rate

"Ero-Sennin?" Hinata questioned, confused by the name. Naruto froze

"Errr… opps?" he grinned sheepishly. Hinata didn't respond, unsure if that name was appropriate or not

"Long story, filled with sighs and other things" he said waving it off "Anyway, exploding tags essentially use a sort of seal too. It's a chakra seal, and the detonating is the release. So the idea occurred to me. If just that can release an explosion. Why can't I seal something else?" he held the tag higher

"Why can't I seal my wind manipulation?" he grinned. Hinata blinked

"Really?" she asked before she could catch herself.

"Course! Here's watch this" he grinned. He moved to the already partially-hollow tree, and stuck the tag on a low thick branch. He backed up back to where Hinata stood and smiled.

"Ready?" he asked, excitement rolling off him. Hinata nodded uncertain as to what he was about to unleash. Naruto formed the seal

With a high pitched hiss that rang through the forest, the branch came clean off. Hinata could only stare in a mixture of awe and disbelief.

"Come on, take a look" he said, taking her hand in his and pulling her to the tree. As she inspected the branch she saw it was cut cleanly off. As though a perfectly sharp blade and run through it.

She blinked and looked at Naruto after a moment. She crackled a small, yet somewhat cheeky grin

"What else have you tried?" she asked.

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Hinata sat herself in her usual seat. Again she was earlier than everyone else. But then she supposed of course that was likely to be the case. She turned her attention outside, while her mind turned out of reality. Instead wondering who would be in her team. If the teams where indeed 3 genins with their jounin instructor then she would be paired with two other people from the class.

But the more she thought about it, the more she realised she didn't really have much of a preference either way. She hadn't really interacted with anyone enough for her to feel as though she had enough to judge it on.

'_Perhaps Sasuke-kun wouldn't be so bad_´ she thought in her mind. At least she had spoken with him. That had to count for something, right?

"Good morning" said Uchiha greeted offhandedly.

"Good morning, Sasuke-kun" she replied glancing at him before looking back toward the front.

"Ano, are you excited about the teams?" she asked, choosing the word excited over nervous, deciding he probably wouldn't admit it, even supposing he were.

"Not really, I just hope I'm not put in a recon team" he answered not turning to look as he answered.

'_A recon team?_´ she repeated mentally. '_Of course. How is it that didn't occur to me before?_'

'_They'll organise the teams into task specialty types_´ she looked around the slowly filling room. Trying to remember what each person specialised in.

Looking at Sasuke she felt that there was no doubt he would be part of some battle-capable team. From what she had been told of the sharingan it's ability at recon would be pale in comparison to the Byakugan.

'_Which probably places me on a recon team_' she realised. She looked around the room, and spotted four people she knew had some sort of recon ability. There was Kiba, whose family specialised in scent tracking, and fast attacks. Ino, whose mind body transfer could be used with wild life, notably birds as unseemly scouts. Shino whose bugs would give him obvious advantages, and Ami being the final potential with her chakra sensing ability.

But then, if there were 5 of them total, two of them might have to be a part of a different sort of squad. With her gentle fist she would be a capable fighter for a battle-orientated squad. She glanced back at Sasuke, who was still sitting in the same position. She knew that the Uchiha were known for their great flame jutsu. Meaning that combining her taijutsu, with that ninjutsu would be a powerful combination.

She played with the idea in her head. She did after all score the highest in the taijutsu test, perhaps that was the sort of thing they would have in mind for her now?

Being the first one in a fight?

She bit her lip. That didn't really sound that appealing to her.

"Alright class" Iruka called from the front. Hinata's body chilled. She hadn't even heard the bell go off. Had she been that unfocused in her thoughts?

Iruka began to read off the sheet he was holding that named the members of each team, and their jounin sensei's. Hinata sat frozen in her own time, barely breathing due to her nerves as each name was called from the paper.

"Team 7 will be; Uchiha Sasuke, Haruno Sakura, and your final member will be Haku"

Hinata momentarily broke her body's self-imposed prison to glance at Sasuke, who seemed completely unfazed by the announcement. She supposed it didn't really mean much to him. He always seemed more of the loner type.

"Team 8 will be; Inuzuka Kiba, Aburane Shino and Hyuuga Hinata"

Hinata finally allowed herself a breath of relief. Breathing somewhat more rapidly now that she had clamed down a little. She resisted the urge to smile at her own silliness. Whatever had she been so afraid of? Everyone in their class was capable in their own rights, after all, they had all passed the test.

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When she had first seen Kurenai-sensei, she didn't really know what to think. The jounin certainly had a fashion sense Hinata felt confident she could never adopt. The very idea made her feel quiet uncomfortable. But she had a serious aura about her, which reassured Hinata. All in all Hinata felt that her jounin-sensei gave nothing away from just her appearance.

She was soon lead out of the academy so they could introduce themselves.

"My name is Yuhi Kurenai, I like open minded people, I dislike arrogant and selfish people. My hobby is having some evening drinks whenever I am off duty. I want to fight Sarutobi Asuma" she said with a glint in her eye "and my dreams are to one day be thought of as highly by you as I thought of my sensei" she said, finished on a warming smile. After a moments silence Kiba decided to speak up first.

"My name is Inuzuka Kiba, I like spending time with my clans ninken, I dislike all the trouble they cause together" he said, giving Akamaru a playful nudge "My hobby is taking walks with Akamaru, and I want to fight That Uchiha-teme! I don't really have any dreams, except to become strong" he finished with a half hearted shrug. He then glanced over to Shino who after a moments pause spoke up.

"I am Aburame Shino. I like studying insects, I dislike people who kill insects for no reason. My hobby is collecting new specimens for my insect collection. I only wish to fight someone strong. My dream is to become a member my clan can be proud of." He finished, his voice without any sort of expression. Hinata found herself a little taken aback by which. If only she had that level of self control.

She was suddenly aware all eyes were on her.

"Ano, my name is Hyuuga Hinata." She said, suddenly feeling as though her mouth was becoming a desert "I-I like, ano, people who care about others. I dislike… ano…" her mind was blank. She couldn't think of something she disliked?

"I dislike… ano, shrimp?" she offered, looking around as though they were going to make her think of something else. When they didn't she continued.

"My hobby is f-flower pressing. And I want to fight…. Ano… well…" she looked about herself again, earning a confused look from Kiba, and a soft hearted smile from Kurenai.

"My-my fa-father" she whispered

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**Author Notes**: Another chapter completed! I hope you continue to enjoy it!

And yes, I totally went there with Haku. Not a bad idea, thank you person who suggested it you know who you are. It means shifting the time of the event a little forward but it's nothing I have a problem with doing. And yes, Naruto went on that mission. No Haku is not a chuunin because it would break the agreements between the nations to auto-promote someone to chuunin. And finally, he didn't attend the academy because he's a little past that too. ]

By the way, I recently re-learnt Haku is actually a boy. I take it everyone is happy with that? If not I can write him as a girl, for any difference it might make. Whatever up to you, if you all tell me you want a girl Haku, that's fine, and easily done.

Now to answer the inevitable question; Is Hinata stronger than Sasuke?

No, she is not. She is at this time superior in a taijutsu by a margin enough for her to academically be ranked as better. However the fire jutsu's that Sasuke knows as well as his ability with shuriken/kunai that cannot be tested by a genin tests standard, could not count towards this. In short, all things considered Sasuke is stronger. The 'Rookie of the year' is just a button of his that will be pressed for what I suspect to be obvious reasons.

If you have any questions at all, never hesitate to ask them! If they are not question that will be answered in the next chapter, or potential spoilers, I will answer them!

Until next time, EA!


	15. Author Notice

**Aurthor Notes**: Well… hi. It's not without careful consideration I am deciding to Not pick this story back up. I want to make it clear that anyone who wishes to has my permission to 'branch off' this story from this point just so long as credit is given.

Where did I go? Remember that hand shattering incident? Well that basically chipped a bone in my hand, lots of stressing from the doctor to me convinced me to put it in plaster until they could sort me out, less that chip tear into my hand muscles. Lots of therapy later… to be honest getting this story back on track wasn't really my main concern. I am however very sorry to those who were following this story. However it was out of my hands… or rather it crashed so heavily onto one that it practically disabled me! So take it from me, if someone askes you to lift something heavy you tell them to f**k off! XD

I reread this fanfic and cringed at how badly some things are written, how direct rip some lines, even entire scenes are and basically have lost the will to finish what I began, plus I can't say I have that kinda spare time these days =( However, given the popularity of this fic I decided it best that this is written so you all know what happened, and anyone who unearths this fic to read knows not to expect further updates.

Thank you all so much for your comments and enjoying a story I loved to write. I hope this has brought you some joy from having read it!

Lots of Love

EA


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